Caregiver Self-Care: The hardest task to do

Self-care is bandied about as though it is an easy fix and we all know the ‘best’ ways to do so but fitting it into our lives can sometimes take a back seat to the more urgent issue of caring for others whose needs are actually sometimes quite urgent. Remaining on alert and failing to fit in ‘recovery time’ leads to burnout and eventually compromised health, which in turns means that we are less able to give our best to those who need it most.

Come learn how to put on your oxygen mask first, even though it doesn’t feel like an emergency, in this interactive virtual lab for self-care for caregivers.

• Dr Scarlett Mattoli will share on the physiological and emotional systems that underline the stress and anxiety response and simple ways to measure these systems so you can enact a care response
• Clare Pemberton will lead us all in some guided breathing and meditations and positive reflections
• Dr Vanessa Wong will give some practical tips on diet, sleep, exercise, and similar regimes for those with little time and resources

Key takeaways:

• Better understanding of your own health capital
• Ways to measure stress levels
• Practical strategies for effecting this in everyday life
• A renewed appreciation for getting and maintaining a sense of self, separate from yet still aligned with our children

The presenters:

Dr. Scarlett Mattoli is a clinical psychologist and neurodevelopmental specialist working with families and individuals from all walks of life through private practice and volunteer work. Her assessments, therapy, support, and consultancy practices all are carried out with a whole-person approach utilising only evidence-based materials and practices. She is the parent of three beautiful neurodiverse individuals and continues to learn every day about what it means to be a parent of them and to parent them to be the individuals they are becoming through their own experiences and competencies.

Clare Pemberton is a qualified registered social worker and counsellor who provides support services for young children, adults, and couples. She utilises mindfulness practices to support her work with families and has a passion for supporting trauma recovery through the use of EMDR. She has specific interests in sibling dynamics, parenting empowerment, and stress/emotion management. Clare believes in embracing differences and leveraging strengths to unlock the potential in every child.

Dr. Vanessa Wong MBBS, MRCPsych, FHKCPsych, FHKAM(Psychiatry) is a specialist in psychiatry with over 15 years of mental health experience, who combines her conventional medical training with a functional medicine and integrative approach. She uses nutritional therapy, herbal supplements, meditation, breathing techniques, stress management, and health technologies in a systematic way to achieve lasting health outcomes for her clients. She has recently completed her board-certification of Lifestyle Medicine from the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine, and is a fellow of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a registered practitioner with the Integrative Medicine for Mental Health, has trained in the ADAPT training course at Kresser Institute, and is on the advisory board for ChrisKresser.com. She has completed various other training in hormones, functional genomics and integrative psychiatry.