I know how it feels to want to feel better but not know how.
I come from a long line of women who never stop. It’s in my DNA (or at least very deep in my early imprinting) to care for everyone and everything. All the time. I was an expert at taking care of everyone else at the expense of my own well-being. You can imagine that didn’t work out so well.
Decades ago, in my first career as a physical therapist, I burned out. I can still clearly remember the moment I knocked on the exam room door but didn’t enter the room. Standing in the clinic hallway with my head resting on the doorframe, I felt absolutely miserable. My cup was empty. I was spent. And to make it worse, I felt so much shame and guilt for letting down the patient on the other side of the door who was waiting for me.
Years later, when I started medical school, I knew I would need to do things very differently if I was going to avoid burnout a second time. What a valuable insight since by the time residency started, I was also a mom to my 2-year old and 2-month old boys.
