How many hats do you wear?

When you think of hats, it's normal for the first thing to come to mind is a physical hat; however, it can also be used as a representation of the variety of roles we each play in our everyday lives. As a therapist, I have often come across various scenarios where individuals struggle with all the hats we wear each day. Furthermore, it's a norm that, the older we get the more hats we have to juggle.

Allow me to provide an example: we are parents, siblings, cousins, friends, at times caretakers, professionals, ect. Did you notice one that I may have forgotten?

 When I ask the following question in therapy: "how many hats do you wear a day?" The hat that is almost always forgotten to get mentioned is the hat that represents our individual selves. Why do you think that is? As I previously mentioned, the older we get, the more hats are thrown our way, naturally pushing us further away from the main hat that should always come first: YOU!

Therefore, I encourage everyone to practice self care at least once a day. Do something for YOU. Lets start wearing our individual self hats everyday!