A cute way to self care

“Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.”–Deborah Day

As humans, we are our own harshest critic. We are the ones that hold ourselves to impossible standards and who hold the longest grudges. We are often so compassionate towards our friends and family, and so hard on ourselves in challenging times

Just over a month ago, one of our clients at work shared the FINCH app with our Social worker, and naturally as a therapeutic team, we all were interested!

Everyone downloaded it and we instantly became obsessed with these tiny “birbs” and the world they create around self care. I have been using this app for over 45 days now, and I can truly say it has brought a new light to self care for me, especially in this time where our reality as humanity is horrendous and terrifying.

What is Finch?

When you download the Finch app, you are given a “birb” (it’s just a quirky bird honestly) and they have a cute little home – pictured above! You name your birb and then start by putting together goals to follow. Each time you accomplish a goal you can check it off and get points – your birb goes on adventures as you get more points, and grows and learns. You also are able to buy your birb cute clothing and decorations for their home. Basically it is like a self care tamagotchi, so naturally as a 90s baby, I was hooked!

Why do I recommend FINCH?

First win for the FINCH app is that you are able to use it for free. There is an upgraded option in which you pay for more perks to be unlocked, but after the free trial, I went back to the free version of the app and it is just as good! One of the great things is that the big difference between free and paid is the different options for goals – however, in the free version you are also able to create your own goals, so this perk doesn’t really matter too much!

Another win for this app is the ease of use and the understanding of the challenge with self care. As an Occupational therapist, self care is a huge focus of my practice, but as someone who struggles with my own mental health, I recognize that self care is a hard thing to do. Many of the mental health apps or self care blogs that I follow are focused on lovely things, or “just doing” good things for yourself. For many people struggling with their mental health, self care can be extremely difficult, even just the simple stuff.

The goals that are given as examples on the app are encouraging in the sense that they are so simple you don’t feel like you are not capable. Some of the goals range from washing your face, to reflecting on something you’re grateful for, to “literally surviving the day”. If that is not relatable I don’t know what is! And then you are able to make your own goals of whatever kind – some of mine I have added are spending 15 intentional minutes with clients at my day program to bring intentional joy to my workday, taking my medication and reading a bit of a book.

It also gives the motivation to complete goals without spending money or eating extra food (sometimes rewards are intended to be positive for motivation but come with side effects such as spending too much or creating difficult connections with food). Many people who are neurodiverse don’t experience internal motivation to complete tasks that don’t reward them instantly, such as cleaning the bathroom or going grocery shopping – yes your house is nicer, but it’s not the same as doing work to get paid for example. With the app, as you complete goals, you check them off and your birb gets points! Sure it’s not true money and you’re not getting real gifts, but it’s like levelling up in a video game, and many of us these days love a game!

The app also has some different categories of support areas that you can explore- please keep in mind that these are not a replacement for therapy but are to help in harder moments as strategies. For example, you can explore the breathing section which will guide you through therapeutic breath, try different movements that are guided, reflections to guide mindfulness and try out different acts of kindness. There is a quiz section, which should not be a replacement for assessment or diagnosis from a professional, but can be helpful as a reminder or check in with self as to where you are mentally in the moment. There is also a first aid kit section, which provides some grounding and mindful activities that you can use in moments of high stress to help bring yourself a little closer to calm.

One of my Favourite parts of the app however is the friendship tree! You can add your friends to your tree and in this way you can send each other little reminders of love! Our team at work all has each other on our trees and it’s so sweet to get a little gratitude message or a reminder to drink water or to be strong!

Again, this is not the be all cure all of mental health, but is a sweet little app that will bring a smile to your face and hopefully help you on your self care journey!

Let me know if you try it out!!! 🙂 Do you have any self care apps/mental health apps you love?