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Julia Marie Hogan - It’s OK To Start With You on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor
Kris McGregor speaks with Julia Marie Hogan, a licensed clinical professional counselor, about her book It’s Okay to Start with You, which encourages readers to prioritize their well-being so they can fully participate in God’s calling for their lives. Hogan uses the metaphor of the airplane oxygen mask, emphasizing that taking care of oneself is essential before helping others, a principle rooted in understanding God’s love and seeing self-care as a discipline rather than an indulgence.
Critiquing superficial self-care trends and explores deeper self-care that incorporates mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects; she explains that authentic self-care is about maintaining a balanced life through practices like sleep, nutrition, and stress management. This is especially important in a society that values busyness, which can lead to burnout and detachment from self-awareness.
The book offers a structured approach, including reflection and discussion questions, making it versatile for individual or group settings. Self-care is a continual process of recalibration based on life’s seasons. For example, a person going through grief may focus on simple actions like sleep, nourishment, and prayer to help process their emotions. The book’s action plans encourage small, achievable goals, tailored to different aspects of self-care, helping readers gradually build sustainable habits.
You can find the book here (amzn.to/2PZEEBt) .
Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

1. Understanding Self-Care as a Discipline: How can you reframe self-care in your life as a necessary discipline rather than an act of indulgence?

2. Embracing God’s Love Through Self-Care: In what ways can recognizing God’s love for you inspire a more authentic approach to caring for yourself?

3. Identifying Inner Criticism: What negative messages do you frequently tell yourself, and how can you begin to replace them with the truth of your worth in God’s eyes?

4. Balancing Service with Self-Care: How can you ensure that taking care of yourself strengthens rather than detracts from your ability to serve others?

5. Assessing Your Current Season of Life: What specific self-care practices are most essential for you in this season of life, given your current responsibilities and challenges?

6. Exploring the Role of Leisure: How can you incorporate leisure activities into your routine that truly restore you rather than simply distract you?

7. Cultivating Self-Compassion: How can understanding self-care as part of your spiritual journey help you to be gentler with yourself when you face challenges or shortcomings?

8. Revisiting Self-Care Practices Regularly: How might regular self-assessments help you adjust your self-care practices to better reflect changes in your life and spiritual needs?

9. Self-Care as Preparation for God’s Call: In what ways can caring for your mental, emotional, and physical health make you more open and responsive to God’s guidance?

10. Encouraging Self-Care in Others: How can you support and encourage those around you, especially family and friends, to embrace self-care as a reflection of their God-given dignity?

(amzn.to/2PZEEBt)
From the book description:
“Self-care is often misunderstood in our society. Far too many of us dismiss it as selfish pampering, and the results can be devastating for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Real self-care is anything but self-indulgent. It’s an essential discipline, rooted in the reality of who we are as God’s beloved children.
In It’s OK to Start with You, therapist Julia Marie Hogan, LCPC, makes the case for making self-care a priority beginning with reclaiming your own worth. Based on her practice as a therapist, she offers deep insights into the reasons why we neglect to take care of ourselves and provides needed tools to change our habits of thinking and acting so we can show up fully in our lives and relationships. With step-by-step instructions for building a tailored self-care plan, reflection questions, and note-taking space, this book is the ultimate guide to becoming the most authentic version of yourself.”
About the Author
Julia Marie Hogan is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Chicago. In addition to her work as a psychotherapist, she leads workshops and writes on topics related to self-care, relationships, and mental health. She is passionate about empowering individuals to be their most authentic selves. You can find more of her writing online at Verily. She completed her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia.
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