Motivation and emotion/Book/2024/Emotional self-care

Emotional self-care:
What is emotional self-care, why is it important, and what techniques are effective?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

Figure 1. Burnout in the workplace causing fatigue and lack of motivation. Scenario 1 Stella works in design and marketing and works in a fast-paced environment. She is constantly performing novel tasks at work and needs to achieve new goals at work on a weekly basis. Stella is a perfectionist and a high achiever who always aims to do her best. However, she has been feeling extremely stressed and overwhelmed with the workload that never seems to lighten no matter how many tasks she ticks off her list. Lately, due to the high-pressure environment at her workplace, she has been putting in less effort resulting in sub-par work. She has been feeling burnt out, fatigued and unmotivated and constantly thinks about quitting her job.

Self-care has been defined as sustaining or enhancing our physical health, psychological well-being and overall life satisfaction through periods of stress or negative affects (Butler et al., 2019). Emotional self-care strategies and techniques have been thoroughly researched and implemented to maintain and enrich our well-being and functionality. It has been consistently found to counter our stress responses and their outcomes to improve our mental health.

Psychological theories, such as the self-care motivation theory, the self-compassion theory, and the self-determination theory, have been used to understand emotional self-care and design strategies and interventions to prevent ill mental health due to psychological stress. These strategies and techniques include but are not limited to, practising mindfulness and self-compassion, meditation, journaling, and creative expression.

Focus questions: What is emotion self-care? What is the significance of emotional self care? How is emotional self-care measured? What psychological theories are linked with emotional self-care? What are some emotional self-care techniques?

Emotional self-care

Emotional distress

A plethora of research has linked emotional distress, including states of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression to negative perceptions of "the self" and the world (Pomerantz & Rudolph, 2003). These negative perceptions lead to low self-esteem and reduced self-efficacy, significantly affecting workplace and daily performance (Pomerantz & Rudolph, 2003) (see Figure 1). Research has found that we consistently make decisions and judgments based on our moods and perceptions of our surroundings (Pomerantz & Rudolph, 2003). For example, being upset or sad can make us agitated, like something is not quite right, which may induce feelings of uncertainty and a loss of control. This emotional state can lead to us having tunnel vision, which then informs negative perceptions of our situation and the self. A pattern of negative views can leave us vulnerable to negative feedback, which triggers instinctive responses like "fight-flight-freeze" or anxious overthinking (Pomerantz & Rudolph, 2003).   

Various studies show that adverse emotional affects are strongly correlated with dysfunctional information processing, irrational beliefs, negative self-talk, excessive negative self-focused attention, cognitive distortions of the self, and learned helplessness (Ingram et al., 1987). Learning about emotional distress and negative emotional states is crucial for researchers to identify the various cognitive factors that are involved in the onset of these dysfunctional thought patterns. They are essential to developing emotional self-care strategies and beneficial interventions for emotional regulation to prevent dysfunctional emotional states.

Characteristics of emotional self-care

Self-care not only looks at preventing burnout and secondary traumatic stress or vicarious trauma but also looks to achieve two fundamental goals: to protect us against and manage various negative affects, including stress, and to sustain our overall well-being, functioning and positive mental health (Butler et al., 2019). Self-care is primarily used to cope with or reduce stress and its outcomes in high-pressure workplaces, academic institutions or daily situations (Butler et al., 2019). It can also enrich our lives by making us more resilient and increasing our functioning (Butler et al., 2019). Stressors can emerge from various areas, such as our social or work lives. Therefore, a few components that self-care can be applied in and benefit us include physical, social, spiritual and mental health and well-being. Emotional self-care techniques and strategies such as meditation, journaling, mindfulness, sleep, physical activity, and maintaining interpersonal relationships can help us mitigate and prevent issues with emotional regulation and improve our mental health (Town et al., 2023).

Studies show an inverse relationship between perceived stress, which can cause fatigue, burnout, and emotional distress, and mindfulness (Vivian et al., 2019). They also show that engaging in self-care and being able to regulate emotions can have a positive impact on stress responses (Vivian et al., 2019). Stress can often lead to adverse outcomes such as inadequate communication, attention, empathy, and deficits in working memory and our ability to be present (Vivian et al., 2019).

Practising mindfulness techniques can increase our ability to be present. It can increase emotional regulation by making us more self-aware of our stress responses and the most effective ways to counter them (Vivian et al., 2019). Emotional regulation is an effective strategy that can help us positively reframe our dysfunctional thought patterns (cognitive reappraisal) and can help improve our tendency to suppress negative emotions (Vivian et al., 2019). Interventions based on mindfulness, such as breathing exercises, guided imagery, and yoga, have positively impacted stress, anxiety, and resilience (Vivian et al., 2019).

Significance of emotional self-care

Emotional self-care and emotional regulation can play a significant role in improving anxiety disorders, which can be highly dysfunctional and have been related to learning difficulties, deficits in problem-solving, trouble adapting, and suicide (Ingram et al., 1987).

Self-care strategies can be used for individuals in all dimensions, from professional, clinical, personal, and academic settings. Teaching students and various professional staff self-care techniques can help them prevent and manage symptoms of burnout and perceived stress. Butler et al. (2019) found consistent self-care practice in university students to be protective of re-traumatisation experiences, secondary stress trauma, and overall negative mental health due to coursework and training.   

Vivian et al. (2019) studied the impact of stress and negative affect in nurses and the impact on their performance towards their patients. Since stress influences our ability to communicate and empathise effectively, it significantly impacted patient care and satisfaction. As healthcare requires doctors, nurses, and administrators to care and provide for their patients, inadequate care would deteriorate the organisation's quality.     

Figure 2. Empty playground during COVID-19 lockdowns.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw an overall drop in overall mental health and psychological well-being (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2022). People were isolated and had limited means of contact with friends and family for our safety. During this time, the prevalence of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and stress significantly increased (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2022). An intervention to increase resilience during the pandemic was found to be effective in improving psychological well-being and mood (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2022). In addition to increasing resilience, being kind to ourselves (self-compassion) and engaging in positive thinking behaviours (positive psychology) such as acts of altruism or practising gratitude effectively managed stress and prevented burnout (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2022).

Scenario 2 Catherine is a single mom of two children. She works as a manager at her job and has always been proud of her ability to juggle multiple responsibilities at once. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, she has been working from home, while home-schooling her children. As the months pass by, Catherine is struggling to cope with the stress of working her full-time job and spending time with her children. Gradually, she is not able to give them enough attention and keeps making silly mistakes at work. She is very critical of herself and has been doubting her position at work. Catherine is not able to reach out to anyone for help managing her responsibilities and feels alone in her struggles. She is feeling drained of the recurring cycle of working, parenting, and managing the household. She often stays awake wondering if she is doing enough, which has led to persistent fatigue.

Psychological theories relevant to emotional self-care

The self-care motivation model

The self-care motivation model (ScMM) focuses on developing self-awareness to improve self-esteem and develop consistent and effective emotional self-care habits (Horowitz, 1985). It takes a person-centred approach and allows us to have control over the many factors that influence our psychological well-being. The ScMM is derived from various behaviour change theories such as self-control, psychodynamic, social learning, and achievement motivation theories and is a comprehensive tool for self-motivation behaviour (Horowitz, 1985). It helps us develop our minds, emotions, and bodies to support behaviour change, make healthy choices to reach goals and increase life satisfaction and overall well-being. Extensive research supports the claim that our health behaviours and outcomes are more effective with internal motivating factors rather than external influences (Horowitz, 1985).     

A fundamental aspect of the ScMM is based on self-awareness and its impact on mental, physical, and psychological facets of health behaviours. Improving self-awareness impacts our decision-making capacities and emotional regulation, which can help protect against negative affect and make us more resilient to emotional fluctuations in daily and workplace settings. Greater self-awareness increases self-esteem, leading to higher self-efficacy, improved confidence and work performance. This cycle of feeling good about ourselves and performing well across various facets can lead us into a positive feedback loop, enhancing mental well-being. The ScMM is an effective model for students, and educators can teach this approach by reinforcing imagery that drives motivation to achieve goals (Horowitz, 1985). Stopping negative thought patterns and replacing them with positive affirmations is another method to practice the ScMM, and it can be highly effective for students and adults in the workplace (Horowitz, 1985). The applications of the self-care motivation model require further research.

A study by Chew et al. (2019) found common motivations for change in their health behaviours. Time perspective driven by regrets of past health behaviours and the motivation to do better in the future significantly affects consistent health behaviour change. Researchers identified common barriers such as dysfunctional habits and social situations hindering self-care behaviours (Chew et al., 2019). Training dysfunctional habits through self-control exercises and reaffirming goals successfully overcame these obstacles (Chew et al., 2019).

Self-compassion theory

The self-compassion theory considers how we associate perceptions of failure and personal inadequacy with perceptions of failure, and it involves being kind to ourselves when stressed or experiencing negative emotions due to challenges (Neff, 2023). Kindness towards ourselves helps us focus on our strengths rather than our weaknesses and shortcomings (Abdollahi et al., 2020). The self-compassion model consists of six components: self-kindness, common humanity (recognising that inadequacies and challenges are part of life and are shared experiences with others), mindfulness, decreased self-judgement, isolation, and excessive focus on our negative thoughts and feelings, which can impact our self-worth (Neff, 2023). Mindfulness is a crucial facet of self-compassion, and by practising it, we can develop greater self-awareness and recognise that our negative affects can be diminished by using several emotional self-care techniques (Neff, 2023). We can recognise that our emotions and stress responses do not tie us down. We can avoid being absorbed and overidentifying with our negative moods and find constructive techniques to improve our mental well-being. Mindfulness helps us be present and encounter the discomfort of adverse emotions rather than suppressing it. Empathy is another fundamental facet of self-compassion - understanding someone's pain, facing our emotions and feeling connected with their suffering can also help emotional regulation as it prevents us from isolation (Neff, 2023).

Self-compassion involves adaptive coping strategies and positive reframing of thoughts to help improve emotional adversity (Abdollahi et al., 2020). Self-compassion can also be categorised into three dimensions:

• the manner of emotional response to emotional adversity (kind or judgemental)
• cognitive processing of their quandary (common humanity or isolation)
• the kind of attention they pay to their pain (mindful or excessive negative focus) (Neff, 2023)

These aspects intertwine to create a comprehensive model for effective emotional regulation and well-being. Various research over the years has consistently exhibited strong links between self-compassion and mental well-being (Neff, 2023). High self-compassion has been strongly associated with reduced psychopathology, including anxiety, stress, depression, and suicide ideation (Neff, 2023). In addition to reducing our perceived stress, self-compassion also increases emotional and physical self-care behaviours (Abdollahi et al., 2020).

Self-determination theory

The self-determination theory (SDT) is a widely used construct consisting of three fundamental psychological needs:

• autonomy (feeling in control of our own behaviours)
• competence (feeling of mastery and the ability to learn new tasks)
• relatedness (feeling of connectedness with others) (Ng et al., 2012)

These facets of the social-determination theory are regarded as the essential components of mental growth and well-being (Ng et al., 2012). Wu et al. (2022) found increased scores of problem-solving, emotional processing, and self-care behaviours in the group with SDT as an intervention. They also saw quality of life scores increase in physical, social, and psychological aspects of their lives (Wu et al., 2022). Achievement of these factors has been empirically evidenced to improve motivation and establish habits for emotional self-care and long-term psychological well-being (Ng et al., 2012). SDT has been strongly linked to reduced anxiety and depression and increased positive affect, life satisfaction and physical activity (Ng et al., 2012).

Emotional self-care techniques

Mindfulness

Mindfulness has been a core concept in the self-motivation model and the self-compassion theory. It is an efficacious emotional self-care technique to promote adaptive coping, stress prevention, relaxation, and emotional regulation (Monroe et al., 2021). Various research has shown the impact of mindfulness on self-efficacy, stress, mood and overall well-being. Mindfulness is directly related to greater relaxation, satisfaction, and awareness of their mental health requirements (Dye et al., 2019).

Figure 3. Mindfulness, yoga, and meditation to reduce anxiety and stress.

Mindfulness is being completely present while openly facing our thoughts and emotions without judgment. It is often practised through meditation, yoga, or sitting in a serene environment (Dye et al., 2019). Meditation is an exceptional tool to promote self-efficacy, awareness of internal thoughts and affects, being present, and managing and preventing stress-based mental disorders (Decker et al., 2019). Mindfulness, yoga, and meditation use deep or focused breathing techniques to bring awareness to every movement and thought in the moment. Studies suggest that deep breathing has significant positive effects in alleviating mood and stress, positive affect, and increasing emotional regulation and cognitive control (Decker et al., 2019).

Journaling

Journaling promotes stress relief and reduction in emotional adversity and is linked with mindfulness (Roux & Benita, 2020). Like meditation, journaling brings us to the present moment and encourages healthy reflection on our thoughts and feelings. Journaling allows us to reflect on past behaviours or express expectations for the future. It is also a valuable tool to help increase attention and refocus our minds. Sleep is crucial for physical and mental well-being as it enhances resilience and fights exhaustion from the day prior (Roux & Benita, 2020). Therefore, journaling before sleep can help us unwind and aid in restful sleep.       

Gratitude journals are also a valuable tool. It positively reframes our dysfunctional thoughts and feelings during high-stress responses and negative emotions (Lesh, 2020). Gratitude journals are grounding and help reduce anxiety and adverse emotions (Lesh, 2020).

Creative expression

Figure 4. 'Starry Night' by Vincent van Gogh.

Creative expression through art-based, musical, performative, or creative writing activities can significantly develop adaptive coping strategies and build resilience to increase positive affect and prevent stress. Research by Kaimal et al. (2020) suggests that creative expression in their patients significantly decreases stress levels. Creative expression allows individuals to cope with change much quicker and can increase our overall quality of life (Roux & Benita, 2020).

Quiz

1 Self-care is defined as the practice of maintaining and enhancing health and well-being to improve functionality and life satisfaction.

	True
	False

2 Which of the following is NOT a self-care technique:

	Meditation
	Ice bath
	Creative expression
	Self-compassion

Conclusion

Emotional self-care is the process of maintaining and enriching our psychological well-being through various techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, journaling, and creative expression. These techniques are valuable tools that can be used to improve our overall life satisfaction and prevent stress. This theory needs further research as it does not provide much insight on the applications of the self-care motivation model in practical settings.

The self-care motivation model focuses heavily on mindfulness and self-awareness. Being self-aware and mindful can increase self-efficacy and improve our stress responses. The self-compassion theory has a warm focus of being kind to ourselves and practising mindfulness and empathy. It has a strong view on building connections with those who are suffering and share our pain. This theory has consistently robust evidence of the positive associations between self-compassion and improved psychological well-being.

The self-determination theory has a focus on increasing motivation to engage in self-care behaviours. This theory has been widely implemented across various fields and has robust evidence on the efficacy of the construct on moods and mental health.

See also

• Affect regulation theory (Book chapter, 2019)
• Art therapy (Wikipedia)
• Emotional self-regulation (Wikipedia)
• Guided meditation and emotion regulation (Book chapter, 2025)
• Self determination theory (Wikipedia)

References

Abdollahi, A., Taheri, A., & Allen, K. A. (2020). Self‐compassion moderates the perceived stress and self‐care behaviors link in women with breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 29(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5369

Butler, L. D., Mercer, K. A., McClain-Meeder, K., Horne, D. M., & Dudley, M. (2019). Six domains of self-care: Attending to the whole person. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 29(1), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2018.1482483

Chew, H. S. J., Sim, K. L. D., Cao, X., & Chair, S. Y. (2019). Motivation, challenges and self-regulation in heart failure self-care: A theory-driven qualitative study. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 26(5), 474–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-019-09798-z

Decker, J. T., Brown, J. L. C., Ashley, W., & Lipscomb, A. E. (2019). Mindfulness, meditation, and breathing exercises: Reduced anxiety for clients and self-care for social work interns. Social Work with Groups, 42(4), 308–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/01609513.2019.1571763

Dye, L., Burke, M. G., & Wolf, C. (2019). Teaching mindfulness for the self-care and well-being of counselors-in-training. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 15(2), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2019.1642171

Horowitz, L. G. (1985). The self-care motivation model: Theory and practice in healthy human development. Journal of School Health, 55(2), 57–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1985.tb04079.x

Ingram, R. E., Kendall, P. C., Smith, T. W., Donnell, C., & Ronan, K. (1987). Cognitive specificity in emotional distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(4), 734–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.4.734

Kaimal, G., Mensinger, J. L., & Carroll-Haskins, K. (2020). Outcomes of collage art-based and narrative self-expression among home hospice caregivers. International Journal of Art Therapy, 25(2), 52–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/17454832.2020.1752756

Lesh, J. J. (2020). Don’t forget about yourself: Words of wisdom on special education teacher self-care. TEACHING Exceptional Children, 52(6), 367–369. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040059920936158

Monroe, C., Loresto, F., Horton-Deutsch, S., Kleiner, C., Eron, K., Varney, R., & Grimm, S. (2021). The value of intentional self-care practices: The effects of mindfulness on improving job satisfaction, teamwork, and workplace environments. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 35(2), 189–194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2020.10.003

Neff, K. D. (2023). Self-Compassion: Theory, method, research, and intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 74(1), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047

Ng, J. Y. Y., Ntoumanis, N., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Deci, E. L., Ryan, R. M., Duda, J. L., & Williams, G. C. (2012). Self-Determination theory applied to health contexts. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(4), 325–340. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612447309

Pomerantz, E. M., & Rudolph, K. D. (2003). What ensues from emotional distress? Implications for competence estimation. Child Development, 74(2), 329–345. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.7402001

Roux, N., & Benita, T. (2020). Best practices for burnout self-care. Nursing Management, 51(10), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000698116.82355.0d

Sánchez-Hernández, Ó., Barkavi-Shani, M., & Bermejo, R. M. (2022). Promotion of resilience and emotional self-care in families and health professionals in times of COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 13(879846). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.879846

Town, R., Hayes, D., March, A., Fonagy, P., & Stapley, E. (2023). Self-management, self-care, and self-help in adolescents with emotional problems: a scoping review. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 2929–2956. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02134-z

Vivian, E., Oduor, H., Arceneaux, S. R., Flores, J. A., Vo, A., & Madson Madden, B. (2019). A cross-sectional study of perceived stress, mindfulness, emotional self-regulation, and self-care habits in registered nurses at a tertiary care medical center. SAGE Open Nursing, 5, 237796081982747. https://doi.org/10.1177/2377960819827472

Wu, R., Feng, S., Quan, H., Zhang, Y., Fu, R., & Li, H. (2022). Effect of self-determination theory on knowledge, treatment adherence, and self-management of patients with maintenance hemodialysis. Contrast Media & Molecular Imaging, e1416404. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1416404

External links

• Emotional wellness toolkit (National Institute of Health, 2022)
• Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) (NovoPsych)
• Protect your physical and emotional wellbeing with self-care (Australian Psychological Society, 2023)
• Self-care (University of Melbourne)
• Self-care: What it really is (TEDx Talks, 2018)

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