Self-Care A-Z: Self-Care and PIE!
by Wade Drury, LMSW
In celebration of National Pie Day, Wade Drury treats us to a guest PIE post!
January 23rd is National Pie Day. Indulge in the pie of your choice. And, let’s resolve to treat ourselves to self-care through more PIE (Person-in-Environment)!
As social workers know, PIE is a helpful frame for understanding individuals and social problems in the context of their environments. Using a PIE approach to self-care helps us understand that self-care can begin with us, individually, and then move outward. Self-care can be easy as PIE! Here is my PIE “recipe.”
Pay Attention to Your Own Needs
Social workers are often most concerned with the needs of others. Putting the PIE in self-care leads us to also look to our own needs. Engaging ourselves with the positive, nonjudgmental attitude we use in practice, we can honestly identify our needs.
I’ve found that my needs change from day to day, sometimes drastically, and often those needs are simple, yet underestimated. Develop the practice of checking with yourself with mindful attention several times a day. Simply ask, “What do I need?” For example, some of our most basic self-care needs could be filled by taking a nap or time for lunch! Simply put, self-care begins and ends with maintaining good relationships with ourselves.
Identify Current Supports
Next, begin to look outward. Take an inventory of all your current supports. I find this practice particularly valuable when under pressure. Stress can cause tunnel vision, which leads to losing sight of how many resources we have readily available.
Adopting a PIE mindset in our self-care, we realize that we are not alone. We become willing to reach out to have our needs met. Ask a relative to watch the kids for a few hours. Invite a co-worker to a meal to decompress. Take a mental health day, with no regrets. Be mindful of and willing to use the resources around you.
Expand Your Self-Care Horizons
Have fun with this part! Expand your self-care horizons by cultivating new supports and strengths. Walk through your day-to-day life with a fresh pair of eyes to see what supports you may be overlooking. It’s a simple, yet profound, practice.
For example, after working for two years in the same office, I “discovered” a greenspace behind our office building. It’s a small space with several trees and a large area of grass. This space had been there all along! But, by bringing mindful attention to my surroundings, my relationship to the space changed. Now, between seeing clients, I often take a few minutes or more to stretch my legs, breathe, and get in some nature!
Another way to expand your horizons is to enlist the help of a critical friend. Likewise, be open to making new friends! Intentionally build a friendship with a stranger.
Be creative with your PIE. Realize that you are building supports for yourself that will benefit you and others, as you help others through your practice. I hope the PIE approach feeds your self-care efforts and reminds us of the holistic nature of self-care.
Wade Drury, LMSW, serves as a social worker for Families, Inc. Counseling Services in Trumann, Arkansas. He is a contributing author in The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals, with the entry “Relationships: Cultivating Your Garden.”