For FCRB Members & CASA Advocates:   

Valentine’s Day = Self-Care

What does February bring to mind for you?  Reminders to celebrate the love you have with your significant other are everywhere. Red and pink flowers and hearts are in the front of every discount store, grocery store, restaurants, and online retailers trying to convince you to purchase their goods or services to demonstrate your affections to the important people and pets in your life.  

How often do you see the message to love yourself during the Valentine’s Day marketing phenomenon? We may remember the cliché to “take care of yourself first or you will have nothing left to give others” or “we can’t give what we don’t have”, but how often do we take the needed action to take good care of our body, mind, and soul?

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”  - Lucille Ball

“Friendship with one’s self is all important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.”  -Eleanor Roosevelt

The effectiveness of our Child Advocacy Board volunteer role is enhanced when we take active steps to care for ourselves. This isn’t a selfish act but rather, as Parker Palmer, author and social change activist said, “Self-Care is good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer others.” While being an ICAB volunteer, serving abused and neglected children in the child welfare system, is rewarding, it can also be challenging at times. One of the effective tools to offset the impact of those challenges on our well-being is to practice good self-care.  

This month we encourage you to accept a Self-Care or Self-Love challenge. Each week, or even better, each day, do something loving for yourself. Perhaps this is spending time during the week practicing mindfulness or selecting nourishing food to enhance your energy levels.  It might be spoiling yourself with a special treat you’ve been denying yourself, or creating a daily positive affirmation that guides your inner voice to self-loving messages instead of criticism and negativity.

When considering what to challenge yourself to do during the month of February include items from all aspects of good self-care hygiene: Address the Stress in your life; Nutrition; Sleep; Physical Activity; Focus on Positive Emotions; Nurture your Mental Health life; Connection with Others; Acts of Kindness; Having Fun; and Spirituality.

Questions to Consider and
Additional Resources

Explore your answers to the following questions to determine what self-care might look like for you or to deepen your current self-care practice.  

• What do I currently do to take care of my Self?
• What do I do that doesn’t take care of my Self?
• What would it be like to be in a consistent state of Self-Care in my personal/work life?

 Here are some additional resources on this topic:

• Thoughts about Burnout and Compassion Fatigue post from Child Advocates Denver CASA
• “Self-Care: So Difficult At Times, Yet So Important,”blog by Tony Porter, Co-founder of A Call to Men
• Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide for Caring for Self While Caring for Others  by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
• Less: Accomplishing More by Doing Less by Marc Lesser
• Self-Care-Starter-Kit- Buffalo School of Social Work

Watch Videos:

     Amy Cunningham's 12-minute talk:  Drowning in Empathy-The Cost of Vicarious Trauma

     Kristen Race 15-minute talk:  Generation Stress:  From Surviving to Thriving

For CASA Advocates:  In-Service Training Credit

If you would like to complete an independent study about self-care and the impact of trauma on the human service Worker, contact your Coordinator or the ICAB State Training Specialist at lesa.christianson@dia.iowa.gov.

Staff Corner:

IDPH Launches YourLifeIowa.org Website:

A new website created by the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) offers a one-stop hub for Iowans looking for help with suicide prevention, problem gambling and substance abuse. The YourLifeIowa.org website integrates information and resources previously found on three separate sites.

“Data shows a correlation and interconnection between the issues YourLifeIowa.org addresses, and providing an all-encompassing website is a meaningful way to assist Iowans searching for help,” said IDPH Bureau of Substance Abuse Chief DeAnn Decker. “We recognize this website is not a substitute for counseling, but it can be a useful resource.” YourLifeIowa.org incorporates information previously found on the IDPH Suicide Prevention web page, as well as the 1-800-BETS OFF and Drug Free Info (formerly the Iowa Substance Abuse Information Center) websites.

The new Your Life Iowa system also offers a telephone helpline (all three previous toll free numbers will still be active), mobile-friendly internet based communications (e.g., online chat), and texting capabilities. One of the major enhancements of the site is a facility locator, which will allow treatment facilities to feature a welcome video, contact information, services offered, a map, picture and description. All services offered by YourLifeIowa.org are free and confidential.

We are pleased and excited to announce the Associate Juvenile Judge William Owens from Iowa's 8th Judicial District has been appointed to serve on the National CASA Association's Judicial Leadership Council.  Judge Owens has been a steadfast supporter of Iowa's CASA program since the time of his appointment to the bench.  He has much to contribute to the growth and enhancement of the program nationwide.