SelfCare Backpack

A new pinned tweet! My name is Gem, I'm a person-centred counsellor in training, and my focus is self care and mental health in tech. I do talks, workshops, self care coaching and have resources over at selfcarebackpack.com I also write at selfcarebackpack.substack.com

You'd think by now I'd be able to type empathy correctly, but alas. Not today.

This week's paid newsletter is about finding restorative rest. Rest is a periennial subject among clients and people I speak to more generally. This post has a lil exercise on thinking about rest as restorative, and some word association. buff.ly/4c4oNeH

This week is the final part of my 'empathy as a skill' series. This time it's all about turning empathy inwards, and practicing self-empathy. It's a difficult practice, but one worth doing. buff.ly/3yEewYi

It feels so weird to write about self care in the face of...everything. Genocide, cost of living crisis, transphobia, facism, etc. But self care is a radical act, and I wrote about it more here: buff.ly/3wAIqfc

This week's newsletter is going to be on self care when the world is burning. When I publish or schedule emails, buttondown does a series of tests, and one is checking I have a subject line/title. The result is sometimes unintentionally hilarious.

I asked what people wanted to hear me write about in May, and Empathy as a Skill won the poll, so here’s a newsletter on it! There’ll be three in total, with the next ones on keeping yourself safe, andempathy as a skill for communicating inwardly. buff.ly/3WvjXm3

This week's newsletter is about evaluating your evaluation. I'd never really reflected on my evaluation before, but doing so as part of my counselling course really allowed me to get to the centre of an issue I'd had in a practice counselling session buff.ly/3JI4fwC

‘You can’t hate yourself into someone you love’ This is true, but where do you go from here? This week's newsletter is a look into how you can move from knowing you're being mean to yourself, to being a little kinder to yourself. buff.ly/3TXVjca

This week's newsletter is about making your warning signs visible, and then figuring out how to respond to them in small concrete ways. Low energy interventions early on can be really powerful #LittleByLittle buff.ly/4cJwHLB

Here's a video explaining how I made a graph of self care vs energy. It's deeply unscientific but it's really helpful in outsourcing the decision-making process on what self care to do, which is often a hurdle in times of stress. #StressAwarenessMonth #SelfCare #SelfCareCoach

New talk! I've been learning a lot about empathy in my journy to become a therapist, and I'll be sharing tips and tricks to deepen your empathy practice at @RomaniaTesting Empathy allows us to have deeper and more productive conversations and is a vital communication skill

April is #StressAwarenessMonth, with the theme #LittleByLittle, so this month I'm going to be sharing some llittle self care tips and tricks to help you break down self care into manageable chunks. This week's newsletter is all about energy vs self care: buff.ly/3VDuhs1

Occasionally, I remove the paywall from a piece of writing, to give you all a hint of what you get if you get a paid sub (as little as £5 a month!), and because I want to share the pieces I'm proud of. This one is about boundaries and closure. buff.ly/4aaMHob

This week's newsletter is on value-based self care, and how linking your self care activities to your values can really help you both get to know yourself, but find restorative, grounded self care. buff.ly/4agzfPp

This week's post is on manifestation, and how I'm currently use it to help plan a week. How successful I'll be remains to be seen, but I'm feeling grounded, present, and on top of things. Read more on buttondown: buff.ly/436S84V #Manifest #KindAccountability

Week one: what are we looking forward to as we move into this new season? I'm looking forward to lighter nights (especially as I do an evening class once a week!) and the bloom of spring flowers on walks. What are you looking forward to?

I don't know about you folks but I'm enjoying the changing season, the lighter mornings and nights and the promise of warmth. This month over on the discord it's all about reflecting and prepping as we move into a new phase of the year! #reflection #SelfCareCoach

This week's post is about managing the end of a therapy session. It's about how the smallest of boundaries and interactions can have deeper meanings. I love digging into how my actions can have bigger effects on a client and their patterns of relating. buff.ly/4bVhreu

Really love today's newsletter. Started off as one thing but ended up being something else, and I love that process. I love starting something and following the thread until I find a message, it's my favourite way to write. #SelfCare #Boundaries buttondown.email/SelfCareBackpa…

Want to invest in your self care this year? I've got spaces for some Self Care Coaching! I use a person-centred approach which means I follow your lead, asking questions and helping you find your path. Book here buff.ly/3u1Td0P