Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals

Be Still: Spiritual Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals

Copyright © 2019 by Dr. LaRonda Starling

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without prior permission of the author. For more information regarding permission requests, please visit the following website:

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV come from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®). ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Proofread and Formatted by Polgarus Studio

Edited by Christian Editing Services

Cover by Rob Williams - Designer

(Fiverr.com/cal5086)

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-9980462-1-1 (paperback)

ISBN-13: 978-0-9980462-7-3 (ebook)

Dedication

To my loving Father God, thank You for Your love, for Jesus my Savior, and for my life. Thank You for the book idea and the words that You gave me to write. God, I do not have enough words to express my deep gratitude to You for who You are and how You continuously change my life. I am nothing and have never been anything apart from You. You are my rock!

A Beginning Note

Hello and welcome to the book. I hope you enjoy your reading time as much as I enjoyed the time I spent writing. Except where noted and cited, the words and the ideas expressed and written in this book are mine, and no story anyone else has ever shared with me was written or inspired what is written in this book. These are my words, thoughts, and examples, and they were not inspired by anyone I have ever met or not met, including but not limited to family, friends, colleagues, previous coworkers, past and present employers, associates, acquaintances, store clerks, strangers, clients, students, or people on and off the internet. Well, let’s just say everybody except the God of the heavens and the Earth.

While I did thoroughly enjoy writing every word, I am not offering this book as advice to anyone, and the information here was written because God told me to. Nothing written in this book can replace the guidance and recommendations of one’s own personal treatment specialists (i.e., therapist, psychiatrist, primary care physician). It is not my intention by writing and publishing this book to provide here any advice or therapeutic services of any kind, including but not limited to: evaluation, assessment, diagnosis, therapy, consultation or treatment.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1: The Importance of Being Still

Dim Lights

Weary Souls

Learning to Be Still

Questions

2: Be Still and Know

Sovereign

Omnipresent

Omniscient

Consistent

Knowing God

Questions

3: Be Still and Pray

Jesus and Prayer

Alone with God

The Model Prayer

Your Time with God

Questions

4: Be Still and Reflect

Godly Reflections

Thoughts of Truth

Thoughts of Excellence

Thoughts of Praise

Journaling Thoughts

Career Reflections

Wise Counsel

Questions

5: Be Still and Study

Making God’s Word Personal

Memorizing God’s Word

Starting Your Studying

Reading and Understanding for Yourself

Questions

6: Be Still and Say No

Know Your Ratio

Saying a Loving No

Learning to Say No

Learning to Delegate

Saying No to Persuasives

Questions

7: Be Still and Take Care

Your Physical Health

Your Eating Habits

Your Sleep

Your Rest

Your Healthy Social Support Network

Be Still

Questions

Be Still and Read the Good News

A Final Word

About the Author

Introduction

Hello Fellow Mental Health Professional,

Welcome to your first moment of being still. Well, technically you are not being still because you are reading, and thus your brain is actively processing, but I pray for you to have a few moments to rest as you read a portion of this book each day.

Please know I have prayed for you. If you are reading this book because your soul is weary from the work that you do, I have prayed that God would refresh your soul and give you strength. If you are new to the field of helping professionals and you are reading this book to learn the importance of self-care while working, then I have prayed for your time in your field to be one of great successes, and for you to have plenty of time to form the habit of being still early in your career. If you are reading this and you do not fall into one of these categories but are interested in the importance of self-care, then my prayer for you is to learn something new to strengthen your relationship with God, and that He refreshes you while you care for people either now or in the future. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your reading time.

Take Care and Be Still,

LaRonda

1: The Importance of Being Still

If you walked into your kitchen right now, would the light be on or off? If the light is on and you are not cooking and no one else needs that light, then how long would you plan to leave the light on before turning it off? You may be someone who is sensitive to leaving lights on for long periods of time. Before you go to bed, you turn off all unnecessary lights, and during the day when a room is empty, you either turn off the light yourself or ask someone else to do it, for one of at least two reasons. One, you pay the bills and see lights left on as wasting electricity. Two, if you left them on all the time, the bulbs would go out sooner and need to be replaced. They would literally burn out, and then their usefulness, for which they were originally created, would no longer exist. There would be no more light shining, making it more difficult to do some activities in your home for which you need light.

The difference between people and light bulbs is that you can always go to the store and choose another light bulb from among a variety of lighting choices. You take the light bulb home and replace the old one with the new one, and again you have what you need to successfully navigate through a dark home. The same type of identical light bulb is manufactured many at a time, making them easy to replace. However, there is only one you. As much as some people may seem to be similar, even identical twins are uniquely themselves. Whether you believe it or not, you are you, and God created you for your unique purpose. There is no going to a people store and getting a new you.

Dim Lights

Just as lights can burn out, so can people. The issue of burnout is not a new one; it affects many people across the helping professions. Similar to the financial consequences of leaving your lights on for too long, keeping your own light burning past your limits has a cost. If you have ever been truly burned out, how much were you likely to want to work? Did you even go to work? Some people may not want