Self-Care isn't Selfish

One of the most common maladaptive thinking processes that comes up in therapy is “All or Nothing” thinking. This is the phenomenon where you tell yourself that something is either all good or all bad but there is no in-between.

Where this tends to negatively impact people is when it comes to the idea of taking care of oneself. Society today often pushes a narrative of the hustle mentality or shaming self-care under the guise of being selfish.

The truth of the matter is though; while selflessness is of course an incredibly meaningful value; it should not be at risk of sacrificing all of your self-care. Too often in therapy I hear people talk about how guilty they feel when they talke time away from family, friends or even their jobs. It is simply not sustainable. The idea that self-care equal selfishness not only harms you, but harms those around in us in the sense that if we are not filling our own tanks, we cannot truly be there for others.

An exercise that I often provide in therapy is to find one intentional action self-care that you would not otherwise do at least once a month While initially this may feel uncomfortable, with practice the benefits should be evident.

If you struggle with self-care, therapy at Dinovitz Counseling can help! Philadelphia therapist, Noam Dinovitz specializes in stress management, maladaptive thinking and grounding techniques.

He can be reached at:

484 424 7722

or:

Noam@Dinovitzcounseling.com