Self-care for Carers

The Consultative Seminar Series, ‘Buddha’s Teachings and Mental Well-Being: A Dialogue’, came to a close with the third session, Self-care for Carers: Contemplative Practice for Psychological Caregivers. The three-part seminar series was organised by the Mental Health team of Atish Dipankar Dhyan Kendra.

This session turned the attention on those who regularly hold space for the suffering of others — therapists, mental health professionals, teachers, volunteers and caregivers. The point in question was: how does the carer care for themselves while remaining genuinely available to another? Bringing Buddhist teachings into dialogue with psychotherapy, clinical experience, personal narratives and contemplative practice, the discussion examined care not as a fixed technique but as an ongoing process shaped by compassion, presence, identity, boundaries and relationship.

Through reflections on grief, the ‘Wounded Healer’, solitude, mindfulness, self-compassion and the Four Noble Truths, the session invited participants to consider the caregiver’s own humanity within the wider ecology of healing. Breakout discussions further explored the challenges of carrying difficult encounters, maintaining professional boundaries, recognising personal woundedness, and integrating contemplative awareness into everyday life.

The session concluded with a guided meditation on compassion, extending wishes for well-being from oneself to others. Together, the three-part series traced a movement from therapeutic care to community care, and finally to the care of those who provide care — closing with an emphasis on continued attention, compassion, reflection and contemplative inquiry.

To read the Executive Summary of the Proceedings of CSS-3, please click here.