International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
Open Access

Abstract

Developing a personal compassionate framework for self-care has been an on-going endeavor of mine for some years. When the author started working in healthcare settings that could, at times, present multiple challenges to her own wellbeing, she became increasingly curious as to how to overcome these emotional hurdles. Talking with colleagues over the years and combining their experiences and coping strategies has been an important part of the journey. Equally, throughout her research with people who have experienced trauma, she saw how people developed new means to nurture their own resilience, even in the most challenging of circumstances. Together, listening to these stories provided her with ideas that she wanted to explore further, both in terms of how practitioners and researchers could nurture their own resilience and the potential for their work to be restorative; personally and professionally. She is a great believer in the power of stories, both in terms of helping us to see through the eyes of another, as well as giving us a mirror to hold up to our own experiences, helping us develop a deeper knowledge of ourselves. People in caring roles, in both personal and professional capacities, are often really good at caring for others and prioritizing other people�s needs over their own. However, this is not sustainable over long periods and we all need to know how we can restore ourselves, take some down time and be kind and nurturing towards ourselves. Through her research into the restorative nature of compassionate practices for the development of resilient practitioners, the following four steps seems to be a key: A sense of purpose and of belonging; a safe and supportive space with colleagues or a supervisor for reflectively processing distressing events and information; feeling valued and wanted; self-kindness and acceptance. These can be helpful checkpoints for us in all aspects of our lives and will be the focus of our discussions. Recent Publications 1. S Parry, M Lloyd and J Simpson (2017) It's not like you have PSTD with a touch of dissociation: Understanding dissociative identity disorder through first person accounts. European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. 2. S L Parry and Z Malpus (2017) Reconnecting the mind and body: a pilot study of developing compassion for persistent pain. Patient Experience Journal 4(1):145-153. 3. S L Parry and M Lloyd (2017) Towards reconnecting: Creative formulation and understanding dissociation. Mental Health Review Journal. 22 (1): 28-39. 4. S Parry and J Simpson (2016) How do adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse experience formally delivered talking therapy? a systematic review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse.

Biography

Sarah L Parry is a Clinical Psychologist registered in the United Kingdom and Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her research focusses on “Service developments for young people and adults who have experienced interpersonal trauma”. Her research has been published in a number of international journals, including the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse and Journal of Trauma & Dissociation. She is also the Principle Investigator for International Young Voices Study, which is currently exploring new perspectives on voice hearing for young people and their parents/carers. She has a keen interest in Compassion Focused Therapy which facilitated the creation of a book with Jessica Kingsley Publishers in June 2017, entitled: “Effective Self-Care and Resilience in Clinical Practice”.
Email:s.parry@mmu.ac.uk