Looking after your mental health is an essential part of everyday fostering life. As a foster parent, you will face challenges on your fostering journey that will require a strong bedrock of mental wellbeing to overcome.
At Orchard Fostering, we understand the importance of managing mental health and wellbeing (you can check out the full range of our training and supports). That’s why we’ve compiled a list of tips for looking after your mental wellbeing on your fostering journey. Read on to find out how you can manage your mental health in terms of physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing.
If you’re struggling with your mental health, reach out to the Samaritans on 116 123.
Exercise regularly
The first building block in a strong foundation of healthy mental wellbeing is maintaining your physical wellbeing. If your body is healthy, your mind will follow suit. A major way to maintain a healthy body is to exercise regularly – something that will be of benefit to both you and your foster child.
Exercising regularly doesn’t have to mean pumping iron or running marathons – it can be as simple as taking a walk every morning or evening at a set time. Establishing an exercise routine is half the battle. Once your body gets used to getting out and getting going, your daily walk will become a time for relaxation and meditation, as you let the worries and stresses of the day fall behind you as you march forward.
If you’re struggling to quiet your mind on your walks, why not download a meditation app or rent an audiobook from your local library on BorrowBox?
Check in with yourself every day
As a foster carer, your main goal is looking after the wellbeing of your foster child. You do, however, have to keep tabs on yourself, too. We’ve talked before about self-care strategies for foster carers, like practicing meditation, journaling, the value of alone time, and the importance of maintaining social connections. These are all ways of ensuring your cognitive wellbeing remains in a positive place.
Cognitive wellbeing is all about making sure the way you are thinking about things is healthy. Maintaining positive cognitive habits is a great way of keeping yourself in check – it just requires taking time out of your day to reflect on your thought processes. Are your thought processes contributing positively or negatively to your life? If you find yourself constantly anxious or worried, take a step back and reflect on the way you are approaching your problem. Is it really as overwhelming as it feels? Or is there a solution that you can put in place?
One way to keep a check on your cognitive wellbeing is to develop positive habits around talking through your thought processes with those around you – which brings us to our next point…
Talk about how you feel
Talking about your feelings is difficult. Articulating complex emotions is a struggle and sharing your innermost thoughts can sometimes feel like you are burdening someone else with your issues. It just takes practice and a patient listener. If you have someone that you trust (a family member, a friend, a therapist), open up to them about how you are feeling – they will likely have felt the same at some point and can offer an objective, outsider opinion on your situation.
One great place to find a sympathetic ear is at our locally-run fostering support groups. These groups provide a space for carers to get together and share their experiences – a great chance to get some of those feelings out in the open with like-minded people.
Access supports available to you
As with all things, sometimes we just need a little help. At Orchard Fostering, we provide regular access to a full-time social worker for all of our foster carers, allowing you to discuss any and all fostering-related issues you have – a great resource for easing worries and calming anxiety.
Outside of Orchard’s support system, there are lots of supports out there to help you with improving your mental health. You can find a list of ways to improve and maintain your mental health on the HSE’s mental health portal.
If you’re interested in foster care, please reach out to Orchard Fostering today. We’re available on the phone or via email – you can also fill out a form directly on our contact page.
If you’re struggling with you mental health, you should reach out to the Samaritans on 116 123, 24/7/365.