Now that I have been with my new organization for a few months my insurance benefits have kicked in! This really excites me as I have been doing contract work for years and haven’t have benefits in quite a while. For the past month I have been researching different health care providers in the Ottawa area. I asked friends and colleagues for referrals. I did some online searching. The great thing about online searching is that you can often read a practitioner’s blog and get to know their personality a bit before you book with them. You can also read up on their specializations and background experience. Once you have this information you can start to design your dream team of health care practitioners.
In compassion fatigue coaching, I always ask people who is on their team. Who supports you in your life, and if you are lacking support – what are your options for increasing it. I believe that having a solid health care team, that you can build long-term relationships with, and who can really get to know you, is vital for overall health and wellness. Before choosing someone to be part of your dream team, it can help to take a bit of inventory of exactly what you are looking for. Are you at a certain age, or phase, of your life where a particular specialty may be something you could benefit from? Do you have a preference of gender, location, age, and training? If you haven’t worked with many practitioners before, you may not know exactly what you are looking for, and that’s okay, you’ll just have to try out a few and see what works for you and what doesn’t.
I have started working with a few practitioners over the years and I knew after one or two session that we were not a good fit. That’s fine, no need to feel guilty about knowing what your needs are and finding someone who can meet them. Try again (ask for referrals or do some online research) and hopefully you’ll find a better fit in the future. As a private practice counsellor, I always want my clients to be getting the best support possible for the time and energy that is being put into counseling, so if my approach to counseling is not a good fit then I hope they are able to try again with someone else.
In the past two weeks I have met my new physician, dentist, naturopath, acupuncturist, and chiropractor.I already had an amazing RMT and I have booked an appointment with a holistic nutritionist. Soon my dream team will be complete! I feel that each one of these practitioners really listened to me about where my current state of health is and what my goals are. I have reviewed my overall health and wellness goals over the next year based on their assessments and recommendations. I completely understand that working with any private health care practitioner can be expensive, and often their recommendations are for a variety of treatments, which can be costly. I view health and wellness as an on-going life-long journey and have taken a very slow and steady approach to making long-term lifestyle changes that continues to increase my quality of life – not to mention helps me keep my levels of Compassion Fatigue in check! My journey began in 2009 and has had some ups and downs. I still have many areas that I can improve in and that’s just part of life. I’m happy to be working with some great, caring, professionals who will help me set and achieve my goals. Are you happy with your health care team? How did you find a good fit? Share your experience and wisdom by leaving a comment below.
Cheers, Charlene