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Holisteelik - Dr Caroline Steel

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Holisteelik - Dr Caroline Steel

Coach and trainer for women in healthcare who have or are burnt out.

Empowering you to:
* Reconnect with the parts of yourself you hide away
*Recenter yourself in your life.
*Reparent the parts of you that need it
*Reclaim joy
*Love your work again

29/08/2025

Just been on my first proper soft play date in a while. Planned in advance, went on my own, just for me. An hour long flotation session at the delightful Floatwell in Cambridge. I used to float a lot when I lived in London, and have had a hiatus but I’m definitely going to have to remedy that.

For those who don’t know a soft play date is one of the coaching tools I use - it’s a planned date with yourself, doing something just for you, that stretches your edges a little bit (not that floating was that, but hey, one of my edges is bending the rules of stuff so I’m counting it 🤣). For a lot of us an hour a week is a lot to start off with so you can work up to it. And if, like me, the habit lapses, you give yourself grace and start again. Deeply nourishing in themselves they also offer a training ground for self-compassion, learning what you like, pushing gently at your comfort zone, and self-love.

Floatation is a therapy where you are in the dark and quiet in a bath of Epsom salts that makes you feel weightless. It’s a blissful, meditative experience that feels like an embodied journaling and visualising exercise to me!

Delicious.

What could you restart/experiment with to nourish yourself this weekend?

16/07/2025

My standard photo at Ely station on my way down to London. Usually when I’m off to the BMA GP committee - which I am tomorrow - but today I am heading to a conference on public sector productivity. The agenda is heavy on AI, and I’m hoping this is oversight, but extremely light on bringing the public sector workforce along with whatever changes are coming.

Which mirrors my thoughts on the 10 year plan for the NHS. Heavy on tech and ‘vision’; light on engagement of the people that are the actual NHS, or those that use the NHS (bearing in mind that Venn diagram has a lot of overlap)

I’m just back from a glorious week of being off grid camping with a tribe of women, and feeling very connected with my own, and their, humanness. Which might be why all this talk of AI and ‘a doctor in your pocket’ feels quite dystopian to me. So much of healthcare (and although I haven’t worked in other sectors, I think this applies to all public sector work) is a venture of connecting, of people, of soft skills and humanness.

And I don’t think AI is going to be the wonderdrug so many are hoping for.

Have a great day everyone! I invite you to revel in your humanness today 😌

30/06/2025

And now we are at the end of our adventure on Brownsea island.

As predicted it went wrong a bit - I took us to the wrong station to start with and then we had a frantic run across the station bridge at Poole into a taxi for a very short journey to the ferry which we caught just in time.

Past me would have berated myself and been unable to accept my son’s assurance that it was no big deal. This me laughed and moved on.

Past me would also be a lot more stressed that my phone is at 10% charge and my charging cable has stopped working 😬 luckily we’ve got good old fashioned paper tickets!

Looking forward to my own bed tonight. But I will miss my little red tent (for two whole weeks before I am back to camping with the lovely Jen le Marinel!)

27/06/2025

Setting off today for a long weekend of camping with my 16 year old to celebrate the end of his GCSEs. A few years ago I would have rather worked all weekend than gone camping 🤣. My journey back to myself from burnout has allowed me to learn to trust in myself far more. I’m heading off for this weekend with a lightness and ease I couldn’t even have imagined. Will everything go perfectly? I doubt it. Will that mean it’s not worth doing? Definitely not.

One of my biggest lessons in burnout recovery has been that it is okay to be bad at things, to not know how to do something, to ask for help. When we are burned out we tend to feel we can’t - if we ask for help or show any vulnerability the whole house of cards will come clattering down. Practicing asking and receiving - starting with tiny asks - has allowed my nervous system to feel safe with not knowing, with imperfection. And it’s such a gift.

Hope you all have a glorious weekend!

24/06/2025

When I burned out I went to a therapist who asked me what I did that I was no good at, just for fun. And I couldn’t even understand the question.

I resolved to go and find something to be the absolute best at being bad at - but eventually I understood the lesson 🤣

So now I would say painting. Or redecorating my house. Or making my podcast (great at writing it, recorded a couple, shocking at editing. Might just put it out as it is!). And running

What do you do, just for fun, that you’re not good at?

22/05/2025

Last day of the content sprint. I’ve enjoyed it more than the expected. Realised I don’t mind being visible as much as I thought. And that I can show up even on tough days.

Today is one of those tough days. I’m in London for the BMA GPC meeting and honestly feeling like we are trying to turn a tanker that is actively trying to run us down at the moment, and is heading straight for an iceberg and doesn’t seem to care in the slightest.

Going to sit here and listen to the birds and look at the trees for a few more minutes. Then armour up and head in.

But I’m also planning a good wallow and a dance it out party for tomorrow. In my coaching we call that ‘shelving nasties’ which all doctors are skilled at - but it includes the part where we take the nasty back off the shelf and move it through (which imho experience doctors aren’t taught and don’t make enough time to do!)

Look out for more from me soon. But I’m taking the weekend off - hope you all have a lovely weekend

21/05/2025

Some of you might have noticed that I’m posting a lot more, and that’s partly because I’m enthused after my run of conferences and partly because I’m doing a content creation challenge with . Today’s prompt was to post a motivational quote and the email came with this gif. Which is hilarious to me, because it is the gif my sisters and I send each other when we are cheerleading - can be anything from putting laundry away or booking a smear test, to starting a podcast or applying to speak at a conference.

Seems like the universe speaking! So whatever you’re thinking about today - you can do it!

And, for the perfectionists among us - you can do it even if you can’t do it perfectly

For the people pleasers - you can do it even if you make someone else uncomfortable in doing it (if you’re going to disappoint someone either way, choose not to disappoint yourself!)

20/05/2025

About to have an appraisal with a new appraiser. Always a bit nerve-wracking! Illustrates two points about my business. One is that I am still a front line GP doing five sessions a week in clinical practice and all the hoops like appraisal that go with that.

The other is that I’m not for everyone. No coach is. No GP is either and it’s a shame that we don’t always have the capacity for everyone to find the healthcare professionals that would be most helpful to them. I genuinely believe there is value to a longitudinal relationship between patient and doctor which has been lost in the taskification of medicine.

Difficult to measure and count though so hard to micromanage.

18/05/2025

This week has been pretty awesome. Here’s a recap!

I’ve attended two conferences, spoken on a panel, eaten far too much food, stayed in two very nice hotels, met some inspiring new people and caught up with inspiring old friends. I’ve reminded myself of why I want to help other healthcare professionals dig themselves out of burnout - because our work is hard and the systems desperately need changing to ones that support us to make our difference in the lives of patients.

I’ve also had some great family moments, and been reminded of how far I’ve come, how much more connected I am to my vision of a better fairer health service, and one which allows healthcare workers to thrive.

I’ve reminded myself of those who have helped me along the way. Holding space for my tears and unlearning and becoming. And who are cheering me on now.

17/05/2025

Yesterday I posted about my involvement on a panel of women doctors at conference. I’m really proud of the work I am doing with the medical women’s federation. I’m also really proud of how I’m showing up differently in my family, in my workplace and to myself.

Obviously I did a lot of work on myself to recover from burnout and get to thriving. I also had a lot of help. One of the major things I had to unlearn was that I had to do everything alone. That I am not an inconvenience who mustn’t burden others. That it is safe to ask for, and receive help. And that nothing terrible will happen if I ask for something from someone who says no. And that I can try things on and put them down again if they’re not for me.

A lot of that work was done with the organisation I now coach through - https://oneofmany.co.uk

I then moved on to doing similar work whilst also making myself uncomfortable by camping off grid with https://www.wildfirewalks.com. I intended to push my edges but found instead that I love camping, as long as I have enough sleeping mats and hot water bottles - nature is awesome, who knew?

https://helenreynoldsstyle.com has helped me make my outfits match my new energy, and has also helped me realise that when I dress to impress myself, I feel better than when I’m in elasticless un**es and any old teeshirt and jeans.

And finally (for now) https://declutterhub.com are helping, with their emotions-first approach to home organising, are helping my home become a haven for the new me to come home to.

15/05/2025

Second conference in a week! Medical women’s conference this weekend which is, as the name suggests more medical in nature although still a lot of networking supporting and empowering going on.

14/05/2025

Five things you might not know about me

1. I won a county-wide poetry competition when I was younger, and wrote and directed plays

2. I love cold water exposure - and will try and convince you to give it a try if you spend too much time with me

3. I really do LOVE my job (this one is for my colleagues 🤣)

4. I’m a cynical optimist - most people get to see one side or the other I think, but I really am both/and

5. I grew up in poverty, and I had a bursary from the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers when I was at medical school.

Address

Ely
CB7

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 2:30pm
Friday	9am - 2:30pm

Website

http://Holisteelik.co.uk/

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