Parenting is hard under the best of circumstances, which a year and a half into a pandemic is getting more and more difficult to recall. We’ve been experiencing a collective trauma on multiple fronts, so your feelings—all of them—are valid.
Caring for yourself is caring for your family
As parents, and as working people, we’re accustomed to giving. It takes a bit of reprogramming to center our own needs. A popular metaphor for driving home the importance of caring for one’s self in order to care for others is that of putting on your oxygen mask before helping others do the same (remember airplanes?).
Self-care is not to be confused with self-indulgence. Centering your own needs is not a luxury or selfish, it’s stabilizing. When your family can see you taking care of yourself, it shows them you value your own needs and is a way of modeling healthy behavior. And ultimately, it is what enables you to be there for them.
Against a backdrop of the actual science of stress—both validating and informative—Clinical Lead Amber Valentine-Minion and Mental Health Guide Jessica Vanderberg provide palpable reassurance while taking us through:
- Assessing and supporting a child’s mental health
- Assessing and supporting a partner’s wellbeing
- Research-backed tools for reducing and managing stress
- Tips for reprioritizing our wellbeing
- Getting additional help for yourself or your child
“There is enough that you are already doing. If you are able to take a few of these [tips] and interweave them into your life and your routine, that is huge and massive and deserves a celebration.”
Amber Valentine-Minion, PsyD, Clinical Lead for Child Psychology at Cleo
A third of working parents are asking for mental health support.1 Cleo members know they can turn to their personal Guide for help managing their own mental wellbeing along with their family’s. Learn how Cleo’s personalized, clinically-designed support helps working families thrive.