Women's History Month: What's Self-Care Got To Do with It?

by Annette Snider, Reach Therapist Intern

March is Women’s History Month. This is the month accomplishments of women are to be celebrated, shared, and remembered. Over the centuries, women have broken through many barriers. They have blazed trails to make a better world for all of us. Women have been successful in non-traditions jobs and careers, been strong advocates for justice, written policy, fought in the armed forces, created beautiful art and music, excelled in athletics, saved lives, broken records, taught and nurtured children, and loved fiercely and sacrificially, just to name a few.

As wonderful and exciting as it is to list the accomplishments of women, a common theme is that women are socialized to put others before themselves. For some women, this practice is where they gain their value. However, when serving others first gets out of balance it can lead to physical, emotional, and mental concerns (DiGiacomo, Davidson, Zecchin, Lamb, & Daly, 2011).

How do women make changes so they can continue to be healthy and strong in the important areas on life? The answer: Self-Care. Those two words typically get a “Yep, you’re right” response. Self-Care is often acknowledged; however, consistent follow through of truly caring for oneself is harder to maintain. In honor of Women’s History Month, let each of us look around at all the wonderful women in our lives, and encourage them to care for themselves. Some women know exactly what to do to reset back to a healthy place. Others struggle with identifying what that might look like. If you, or a woman you know, could use some help in creating a self-care plan, Pfeiffer Institute Reach is a place where that can happen.


DiGiacomo, M., Davidson, P. M., Zecchin, R., Lamb, K., & Daly, J. (2011). Caring for others, but not themselves: Implications for health care interventions in women with cardiovascular disease. Nursing Research and Practice, 1-5. doi:10.1155/2011/376020