Treat yourself with the same care as you treat your patients
Healthcare professionals give so much of themselves to others, often forgetting their own needs. In the book Heart for the Doctor, Mila de Koning & Marga Gooren teach you to work with self-compassion in a practical way.
Treat yourself with the same care as you treat your patients
Healthcare professionals give so much of themselves to others, often forgetting their own needs. In our book, Mila de Koning & Marga Gooren teach you to work with self-compassion in a practical way.
Working with self-compassion as a healthcare professional
Doctors love their profession. 70 to 80 percent of physicians report being satisfied or very satisfied with their careers. Having a positive impact on someone’s life, truly making a difference, brings immense fulfillment.
And yet, newspapers and medical journals are filled with troubling stories about doctors facing overwhelming workload and burnout.
We see this firsthand in our work with doctors. We meet physicians with young families who struggle to find balance, doctors wrestling with workloads and unnecessary bureaucratic demands, residents working hard to meet expectations and make the right choices, and senior doctors finding it more challenging to manage on-call shifts.
A practical resource for every physician
These challenges inspired Mila de Koning and Marga Gooren to write Heart for the Doctor – Working with Self-Compassion. This book is a practical and heartfelt resource designed to help physicians navigate the demands of their profession with greater resilience and self-compassion.
Drawing on years of teaching mindfulness and self-compassion to healthcare professionals, we offer tools, insights, and real-life examples to support doctors in finding balance and fulfillment in their careers. Whether you’re a resident, a physician balancing work and family, or a seasoned professional, this book provides a path toward sustainable well-being.
What our readers say
Why read this book?
Medical education doesn’t teach you how to care for yourself
It doesn’t cover how to deal with pain, sorrow, fear, or the traumatic experiences you encounter. The message is to shield yourself from emotions and push through. On top of that comes the pressure from ongoing changes in healthcare.
That's where self-compassion comes in
Self-compassion supports you in dealing with these realities in a healthier way. It teaches you to be gentle with yourself, manage difficult emotions and challenging relationships, recognize your needs, and set healthy boundaries. And that’s valuable for every doctor. Heart for the Doctor is the first book on self-compassion specifically written for foctors.
The impact of self-compassion on doctors’ well-being is scientifically proven
It’s especially effective in managing the external and internal factors that cause stress for physicians.
As a doctor, you’re often highly responsible and self-critical by nature. You’re deeply committed and dedicated to caring for others. You’ve studied and worked hard for years, often putting your own needs aside to help others heal.
But how are you doing? To care for others, you first need to care for yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Or, as the in-flight instruction goes: you must put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.
Why does that matter?
Because it has great consequences. Doctors experience less enjoyment, less energy, or even become ill.
This impact reaches your loved ones too. You are often absent, bringing work home, and become more easily frustrated.
And it effects your patients. Overworked doctors have less focus, are more prone to mistakes, and risk losing the personal connection that’s so essential in care.
This book is about the person behind the doctor. How can you maintain your balance and keep finding joy in your work? How do you preserve your energy? How can you remain the best doctor you can be, giving patients the care that drew you to this profession in the first place?
About the authors
Since 2013, Marga Gooren and Mila de Koning have joined forces to bring mindfulness and self-compassion to the healthcare world. Over the years, they’ve trained countless doctors through workshops and programs, helping them find balance and resilience in their demanding roles and integrate self-compassion into their lives.
Their mission is to empower caregivers to care for themselves so they can continue their vital work with energy, clarity, and compassion.
Marga Gooren worked as a general practitioner for ten years. She is now a senior coach and teacher, working with doctors to improve resilience, self-care and job satisfaction.
Mila de Koning held various roles in the field of mental healthcare. She is now a senior mindfulness and self-compassion teacher and supervisor and founder of the Self-Compassion Academy.