Taking care of yourself must be a priority when you provide peer support to youth. As a youth peer supporter, you need to understand,practice, and teach self-care. Self-care is the collection of activities that keeps you balanced. This looks different for everyone, so it’s important to learn what you need and what works for you. Always remember that making time for self-care isn’t selfish. Think about this: without fuel in your car’s tank, you can’t drive yourself, or anybody else, around. You need to take time to refuel, both for yourself and those you’re supporting. As a youth peer supporter,you may be exposed to experiences that will cause you to question yourself and your experiences. That’s why as part of self-care, you need to dedicate time to self-reflection time to self-reflection and developing your self-awareness. Self-reflection means thinking back on past events, and examining how they’ve affected you. It also means checking in with yourself and evaluating how you’re doing now. Self-awareness means being conscious of your feelings and behaviors. 

Self Care Isn't Selfish Signage, #taking care of yourself

Be open to exploring and evolving, and take time to analyze your skills, strengths and weaknesses. This will make you a better youth peer supporter. And most importantly, don’t be too harsh with yourself. You’re not expected to be perfect. Be kind and compassionate to yourself,like you would to someone else. Consider writing in a journal to think about what you’ve learned, your accomplishments and how you would respond to a situation differently if you were given a second chance. Your thoughts, emotions, feelings and behaviors are all connected, so it’s important to look after your whole self. To help you understand and manage your emotions in a healthy way, surround yourself with positive people and those who lift you up.

Prioritize important relationships in your life,and make time for those people. Remember — they support you in many ways so that you can support others. Practice self-love. Celebrate your successes.Remind yourself how great you are. Why not write out three good things you did each week,or three things you like about yourself? Take care of your body by getting enough sleep,maintaining a healthy diet and exercising. Don’t worry — you don’t have to spend hours at the gym! A short walk here and there is a great way to recharge and feel better. Keep your stress level and head space in check by doing things that help you unwind. Consider picking up a new hobby or practicing a relaxing activity. Taking care of your spirituality looks different for everyone. 

If you believe in a higher power, going to a place of worship can help you re-group and feel connected. Other ways to take care of your spiritual self include meditation and deep breathing. To help you practice deep breathing, try to visualize a balloon that inflates as you breathe in and deflates as you breathe out. So how can you ensure you’re taking care of yourself? We suggest you create a self-care plan that resonates with you. Here are some suggestions from youth peer supporters: Create a support circle for yourself, including friends and adults you trust. Talk about how you're doing with these people. Lose yourself in an activity. It can be things like: Making something with your hands Taking a bath Going for a drive Organizing your closet or room Being in nature Listening to music or Watching TV Check out this website for tips and templates to help you build your own self-care plan. Self-care also includes setting your personal boundaries. 

As one youth peer supporter said, “You can’t throw yourself into everything.You need to say no sometimes.” In a youth peer-support relationship, consider boundaries around personal space, how often and how long you want to meet for, and where you’re both comfortable meeting. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to establishing personal boundaries, here are some ways to ensure your boundaries are respected within your youth peer support relationship. Discuss boundaries with your peer at the very beginning of the relationship. Personal boundaries may evolve over time,so discuss them again when they change. Be mindful of the limits of peer support and discuss how agencies and professionals in your community can help with different aspects of mental health and well-being. Remember to be realistic.

 Setting boundaries can help you from over committing and extending yourself. As part of setting your boundaries, consider whether you want to use social media with your peer. Here are some tips from youth peer supporters on providing online support: It’s your personal decision to provide online support or not. Let those you’re supporting know that you can’t be available 24/7. Provide them with other contacts and resources for when you’re offline or unavailable. Schedule times when you’re available to provide online support. This can be agreed upon when you discuss expectations, and it may fluctuate depending on the support required. Develop a dedicated account for your peer support work, 

so that your personal information and interests won’t be shared with the people you are supporting. Be respectful. Be aware of confidentiality and respect the privacy of those you’re supporting. It’s very important not to post pictures or comments or share identifiable information unless you have permission to do so. When big issues come up, consider meeting in person. And be mindful when providing youth peer support within an organization; most organizations have their own social media policies that you’ll need to follow. Setting personal boundaries can be tricky,but remember you don’t have to do this alone. Talk to a trusted friend, peer or adult if you need the guidance. Thanks for watching! Up next, making connections.