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As therapists, we have always known that meditation is very helpful in managing anxiety. But until recently, it just seemed to be that magic ingredient embedded in the treatment plan that proved miraculous in its benefits. Meditation has gained popularity in recent years, likely due to its undeniable benefits, but it is nothing new. Meditation has been widely practiced in yoga, mindfulness training and spirituality for thousands of years. Dating back to 5,000 BC, archeologists believe that meditation was used for religious purposes in ancient Egypt and China (Puff, 2013).

As the practice of meditation progressed, it’s benefits began to adopt a focus on mindfulness and stress reduction. The neurological impacts of meditation are largely correlated with anxiety management; thus the use of meditation in the treatment of anxiety, depression and related mood disorders. Researchers have found that psychological interventions utilizing meditation optimized the brain’s ability to react appro...

Today, July 24th is International Self-Care Day – a day that acknowledges the importance of prioritizing the mental and physical health and wellbeing among various health care professionals. Combining professional and educational duties along with the unexpressed grief and emotional energy required for patient encounters and managing one’s personal life can lead to the development of professional burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization, as well as create an imbalanced professional quality of life (Stamm, 2002). In particular, an estimated 15% to 50% of health care workers whom treat survivors with traumatic or catastrophic injuries will experience a traumatic stress response throughout their lives (Bride, 2007). This phenomenon of stress resulting from exposure to a traumatized individual is called compassion fatigue. Suggesting that this exposure negatively impacts a professional’s mental and physical health, safety and wellbeing, as well as that of their families, t...