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Professional Take Away:

I work with youth on Goodfellow Air Force Base and have to follow AFI guidelines. There is an entire section about self-care and how easy it is to get burnout as a caregiver. Most of the resources had the same run through that our training and guidelines. Not enough time is spent on taking care of the people that take care of others, so it is up to us to make sure that we are taken care of.

Importance of Self-Care:

In today's society, burnout can be achieved in almost any work environment. The medical, counseling and caregivers are some of the strongest people to take care of others but rather forget about themselves. Just as a mother, I am constantly taking care of them and putting myself last. This was until recently when I was experiencing my own burnout and watched how it affected my job and my household. While I still am not a huge fan of the effect that social media has brought to our youth, mental health is becoming a popular issue to debate. Hopefully, with more exposure, the need for self-care becomes normalized.

Strategies:

It is important for someone to truly partake in self-care, that it involves relaxing and enjoyable experiences for each person. While I love being around the people I love, this often leads to having to deal with their issues or "drama" as well. So I started painting over the summer and have gotten back to reading for leisure. Although with school, work and family, this has been neglected lately. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I have started to stop what I am doing and walk away. This has caused some delays in certain areas but has helped my mental state so much.

Graphic Picture:

I have always found reading a way to escape the real world so this is why I chose this picture. Also, my bed is one of my favorite spots to read. It is my time to relax and feel safe.

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Professional "Take Away" from reviewing resources:

The most important takeaway from reading the resources is the significance of self-care and how it is perceived as a weakness in today's society. Recognizing that you require self-care is a significant step, and it is critical to have a support system in place.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:

In most religions or ideologies, there is a saying that says you can't help your neighbor until you help yourself. In current life, the same concept applies. You can't possibly help people reach their goals until you understand you need help and obtain it.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:

Meditation, journaling, and working out are some of the self-care practices I do on a regular basis. When I'm feeling overwhelmed, I use all of them to reorganize my thoughts. However, in order to maintain the healthy perspective of life

Graphic picture:

Over the last year and a half, meditation has been quite beneficial to me. Taking the time to concentrate on one or two thoughts at a time has proven to be effective. To avoid overthinking, I use this one several times a week.

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Professional Take Away:
I think what stuck out to me the most is just the idea that self-care and burnout is recognized as a true concern for mental health professionals and that it must be considered-it is even written in the CACREP standards! Compassion fatigue was also interesting to read more about as I have never heard that term and now it all makes sense.
Importance of self-care:
I have always felt that self-care was essential to being a functioning human being however, as a woman and mom that always felt like a luxury.  It truly is so important-as important as putting on your oxygen mask on a plane before you can help anyone else.  It almost feels silly thinking otherwise and yet, we live in a country that values burnout over self-care-although I feel the tides are turning!
Strategies:
If I do nothing else I do yoga.  It's like church or a counseling session for me, truly. This is why I chose the picture at the top of my entry. I also value quiet time and time by myself-even going for a drive or a long walk.  Exercise feels like a luxury at this point in my life so I am starting to enjoy it on another level rather than just feeling like I had to do it. Lastly, one of my goals for self-care this year is to write more. I used to write often and about everything-I would like to resume that.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources:
My biggest take away from the resources was the information on compassion fatigue. Although I had known what it was, I didn't realize how much I was already experiencing this. I'm not currently working in a mental health field, but in my personal life, I have taken on the role as the person that people can talk to about anything, and that has led me to empathize with them to the point where I'm taking in their emotions too.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:
Self-Care is extremely important in the helping profession because it reminds you that you also have wants and needs that don't include work and/or other people. These moments, no matter how big or small, can refresh your mind and may even help you in your profession. It goes with the quote, "Practice what you preach."

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:
For me, self-care includes finding something to do by myself, whether it's watching a new movie, trying a restaurant, thrifting, working out, or simply relaxing with a book and a glass of wine. On the other hand, if I've began to feel burn out coming on, or it has already set in, I recharge by doing absolutely nothing that involves my usual responsibilities. That may look like just lounging around the house in comfy pajamas.

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My Professional “Take Away”

My biggest take-away is that a lot of genuine and caring caregivers do not pay attention to themselves when they are suffering burnout and eventually get to the point where they cannot function effectively. They may even become extremely fatigue or sick themselves as they are helping others and forgetting about themselves.

Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession

Self-care is vital for any effective and ethical counseling practice and it must be implemented to achieve the balance of work and life and personal wellness of the individual. All counselors face the obstacle of remembering to care for themselves while focusing on caring for others. If you are not healthy mentally and physically, you as the counselor cannot perform to the best of your ability which should be to assist the client in your presence.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies

Don't forget about yourself because you're too busy caring for someone else. Set aside time for yourself, even if it's just an hour or two. Know your limits and be honest with yourself about your personal situation. Recognize and accept your potential for caregiver burnout.

Padlet Graphic / Picture: I believe that by listening to your favorite music, it can help you relax and forget about the stress of the workplace.

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Professional "Take Away" from reviewing resources: My biggest takeaway from reading the resources is the importance of self care and how it is seen as a weakness in the modern world. Being aware of the fact that you need self-care is a big step and it is important to have people around you as a support group.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: There is a common phrase in most religions or philosophies that talk about how you cannot aid your neighbor until you aid yourself. This is the same idea in modern life. Until you can realize you need help and get it, you cannot possibly help others achieve it.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: Some strategies I use regularly to help me with my self care are: meditation, journaling and working out. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I use all of them to get my mind back in order. However, I regularly use at least one of them each day in order to maintain a status quo.

Graphic picture: Meditation has helped me a lot over the last year and a half. To just take the time to focus on one or two thoughts at a time, has been beneficial. I use this one multiple times in the week in order to not overthink.

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Professional Take Away from Reviewing Resources: To be honest the resources provided are more of a refresher for me. I have been working in the mental health field for about 7 years now. I work mostly with direct care. As a part of my job I teach all of these terms and coping mechanisms to my clients alongside a licensed counselor or Behavioral specialist.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: Overall maintenance of oneself is crucial especially when working in a field where you interact with multiple persons each day. I fall victim myself to lack of selfcare often when I am overworked. It affects my ability to think clearly during crisis situations and I'm more frustrated.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:  One strategy I use is mindfulness and meditation. At the end of each day I think about things that were positive and thing that I could improve on. I focus on my breathing and get rid of negative compulsive thoughts. In my mind it is a peaceful island.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources

I had heard of the word “burnout” in my current job setting, but this is not something I had thought counselors would deal with as often as they do. The biggest “take away” I received when reviewing burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma was most individuals in the counseling field do not recognize the symptoms of these issues in themselves until it is too late. we must learn to recognize and address the issues we, as individuals my be facing. Often times people who are in the field of caring for others tend to forget about themselves which isn’t healthy for them or their clients. We must help ourselves before we can help others.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession

We cannot help others if we do not help ourselves. If someone is reaching out to a counselor or Psychologist, it is because they are dealing with things they cannot control and reaching out for assistance. They deserve to have someone who is at their best to help them become their best and this is only possible if the person helping is in a healthy mind state. Self-care helps us to stay in tune with ourselves and our needs and it is crucial individuals in the helping profession not only pay special attention to their self-care but  learn to recognize and address any possible issues they may be experiencing.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies

Some strategies you may use to practice good self-care include exercising and journaling. These are actually two of my favorite methods. Exercising helps release positive chemicals in our brains like dopamine helping us to feel happier and healthier. Journaling is something individuals can do daily in many different ways. Some may choose to write in an actual journal or maybe type a document in their computer. You can also make voice memos or video blogs, there is no wrong way to do this and taking the time out to think back and reflect on how your feeling can really help your mental state.

Graphic/Picture

I decided to go with two pictures, One showing someone exercising and the other showing someone journaling. Both i  my opinion are great ways practicing self-care.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources:  My biggest take away from the readings is the importance of self-care and how the lack thereof can impact your life.  I realize the need to be self-aware and mindful of not internalizing the circumstances of others.  I understand the importance of surrounding yourself by a team of people who will be honest and not judgmental, and I understand that it’s okay to ask for help.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:  Self-care is a necessary component for everyone; but it is crucial in the lives of those in the helping professional.  The lack of self-care can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue and secondhand depression.  Counselors wear many hats on any given day therefore it’s imperative to find balance and recognize when we need a time out.  By practicing self-care, we will be better servants to those we serve.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:  My go to strategies for self-care are exercise and mindfulness.  I try to exercise daily, because exercise helps alleviate stress and it improves my quality of sleep; which allows me to function at my best.  I enjoy meditation and reading.  Meditation helps me center myself and to focus.  Reading self-help/motivation books help me to stay aligned and in purpose.

Graphic/Picture: I chose this picture because it represents calmness and it's one of my favorite places to meditate, especially when on vacation.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources:

Professionally, before you take on the responsibility of helping others, you must first practice the art of self-care.  As a student studying counseling, it is important to work through the program with realistic expectations while also exploring and researching specialty areas that fit your interest.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:

Counselors are at a higher risk of decline in their overall health and well-being when self-care is not made a priority.  Self-care can be a challenge to enact; however, counselors could suffer impairment and essentially become unable to help their clients without it.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:

One strategy to ensure self-care is achieved while serving others is making sure to get plenty of sleep to help reduce stress throughout the day.  Second would be learning the art of saying “No!”  Lastly, exercising or engaging in some form of physical activity daily to keep stress-levels low so mentally and physically you are prepared to assist others in need.

Graphic/Picture:

The picture is of myself during one of my daily at-home workouts. I lift weights 3 days a week and cardio 4 days a week.

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Professional Take Away from Reviewing Resources: One of the biggest takeaways from the reading is that although there is evidence and various amounts of information counselors continue to experience compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary trauma. With this knowledge before entering the field, I am hopeful that these instances decrease as we head into the future.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: One of my favorite sayings is that you can't pour from an empty cup. In order to serve others, we have to have the emotional capacity to give. However, self-care isn't just putting on a mask, taking a walk, and taking a bath, it's also making good habits that ensure the mind and body are healthy - eating right, exercising, setting boundaries, etc. Maintaining these habits day-to-day will not only create the capacity to give, but also cope with the mental wear and tear of counseling.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: Currently, I strength train to help cope with stress, but I don't always have the energy or time to do that. Two additional habits I would like to include are journaling and meditating. Journaling is something I have done in the past, but haven't been consistent with. I would also like to adopt meditating as to practice breathing and create mindfulness.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: As an individual that works in a mental health clinical setting, I have witnessed and experienced various extents of burnout. A lot of the information I read provided a good refresher on the topic. My biggest takeaway came from the article by Ausloos et al. (n.d.). I really enjoyed the acronym that was provided for burnout. I want to utilize this for myself as well as my clients. I think it is a good way to remind yourself on ways to overcome burnout.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: After reviewing the resources provided, I gained a deeper understanding on why it is important for the helping professional to practice self-care. If we want others to take our advice, then we must be models for them and show the effectiveness of self-care. Partaking in self-care will increase our self-awareness thus improving our current practices.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: The first strategy that I have already incorporated into my routine has been exercise. When I am feeling stressed, I will hop on my elliptical for at least 30 minutes. This act helps me clear my mind. Another self-care practice that I have been struggling with is setting boundaries between work and home. I tend to do my work documentations during off hours to meet my required deadlines. I will try to incorporate more collaborative documentation with my clients to reduce the amount of paperwork I have to complete during my admin time. By utilizing both forms of self-care, it should help me reduce my stress levels. When I am not stressed, I am a more attentive and clearer headed professional.

Graphic/Picture:  I have attached a photo of a workout routine that I will utilize. I tend to get bored with my workouts, so having a different routine to follow will help me stay more engaged.

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Professional "Take Away" from Reviewing Resources: I think my biggest take away was the information on compassion fatigue. I think this important since a lot of clients look for compassion within us as counselors.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: I think self-care is important because one must stay constantly fresh within this field. If one never takes time away from work, then how can it be enjoyed? Also, I believe it's important because we are more than counselors, and there are other aspects of life that we need to attend to.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: The strategies I have in place help me alleviate stress for me in most situations. In times of internal turmoil, I find prayer and scriptures to be helpful spiritually. I like to play video games to prevent myself from making rash decisions. This activity mainly works as an adult time out for me, if you will. Lastly, I like to workout or go on a run to gain a new perspective on a situation. There have been plenty of times when my mind has been refreshed after a run!

Graphic:
The picture I've attached represent my most common self-care practice which is running!

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Professional "Take Away" from Reviewing Resources:  The biggest take away was the Vicarious Trauma (VT) and how it can effect people secondarily and who are trying to help in these situations. Many people do not understand how much we pick up on cues and traumas subconsciously and how they can effect them daily. Many counselors fly under the radar when it comes to having their own hurts and traumas, many of them are seen not as a person, but just as a counselor.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:  Self care is something more and more people outside of the helping professions are becoming aware about and you may hear many ways of helping yourself now days. Many sources of information are for people who are not part of the helping professions, or at least that's the demographic being targeted. But what about those in the helping professions? their own needs and mental healths are just as real and concrete as the people they help. I believe those in these professions do not get enough recognition and help they need and deserve.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:  I have practiced self- care routines for a few years now with a good amount of trial and error. I do feel like many people want that one thing that will free them from their stresses and worries in life... but that does not exist being human. One of the ways I self-care is as follows:
1) notice what state my body is in.
2) acknowledge and accept whatever feelings are in my body at that moment.
3) completely allow yourself to relax all muscles in your body.
4) Direct your attention to something outside of yourself, watch a movie or listen to music.   (Too much mindfulness on yourself and body can make some people anxious)
5) Repeat as necessary throughout the day.

Graphic/Picture: I chose this picture because it shows that you can care for yourself anywhere.... plus it has a dog. I believe that self care can and should be practiced daily wherever you go.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: My biggest take away from the article was how counselors develop burnout, due to experiencing their students extreme situations on a daily basis. Over time those situations rub off on people and they develop burnout.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: I believe that self-care is extremely crucial in this profession because, if your going through something yourself it will be very hard to help someone else. Once a person becomes aware of their issues they are more capable of getting them fixed.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: I have a couple self-care strategies I resort too when I'm feeling a certain type of way. When stressed out, I like to go for walks with my dog and let the fresh air relax my mind. Also when frustrated, I do some breathing exercises to calm my body and gather my thoughts better.

Graphic/Picture: I chose this photo because, it represents what I like to do when I'm stressed to get my mind back on the right track.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: My biggest takeaway is that self-care in the counseling profession is a “real thing”. I was totally oblivious and kind of ignorant to the notion of caring for oneself. A Counselor does not care for themselves, but others. Personally my  focus was only on the care of my students/clients. It never occurred to me that Counselors (myself included)  must practice self-care to prevent burnout.

“Counselor burnout”, I have never heard of this idea. I guess I assumed that Counselors just magically took care of themselves. Counselors are not robots and must not only be cognizant but intentional in taking care of themselves. Reading the articles on “self-care” is an eye opener not only on its reality but importance.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: It is imperative that self-care is practiced. Everyone has their own life challenges and stressors. Compounding my personal challenges and stressors with those of my students/clients can create the perfect storm of not only burnout but breakdown. The old saying that, "you can’t pour from an empty cup” is true. I can’t give something that I don’t have to give. I need to replenish and refresh myself, so I can be of service to my students/clients.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: Two strategies that I can use in managing my personal self-care is time alone doing something I enjoy and exercising. Whether I take a long hot bubble bath, go shopping, watch HGTV or drink tea while reading a book, it is crucial to have my alone time to decompress. It is extremely difficult to schedule alone time with a very active three year old, a husband and working full time. Juggling my many hats can be overwhelming and most days, there is not enough time in the day to attend to everything.

My second strategy is exercising. Exercising not only helps me manage stress, but it is definitely beneficial for my health. Making time to be consistent with exercising is my challenge. Exercising can be a great stress reliever and help to loosen tight muscles caused by stress. When I am consistent with exercising, I feel better not only physically but mentally.

Graphic/Picture: Attached is a photo of my media room. It’s located in my basement where I can have total peace and quiet to drink tea and read or watch HGTV.

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I chose this image because rock climbing is my favorite method of self-care.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: The biggest take away for me was the vicarious (secondary) trauma. It of course makes sense that  as counselors help guide others through trauma that they will struggle not to take some of that trauma upon themselves, but this was not something I ever really considered previously. The main point I was surprised by within that is the impact that the trauma has not only on a counselor's personal life, but also their abilities as a counselor.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: Self-care is something that has been getting a lot of focus across many disciplines in the last couple of years as people are getting burnt out in all careers, but it is certainly more poignant in counseling. I really liked in one of the articles it talked about self-care needing to be taught as part of the lifestyle of a counselor, not as just one more thing to add to our ever lengthening to do lists.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:  I have been thinking a lot of self-care for a while, and not been great at it. As a working professional, with a wife and three kids at home, it can be very difficult to find that time to myself, but one thing that I do that helps a lot, and doesn't require me to even go anywhere is work on cars. I love being able to find a fault in a car, and by working with my hands, fix it. This is especially relevant this week, as my car broke on me last week, and I took the opportunity to work on several things that needed attention, so by Tuesday when I get it back on the road, it will perform very differently. One advantage I have, is that being in the military, we are required to stay in shape, and can take time during the work day to go work out. I do not take advantage of this benefit enough, but staying active is another thing that has a powerful effect on me. My preferred exercise is rock climbing, but that's harder to do here in San Antonio than it was other places I have lived.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: My biggest takeaway from the resources is the idea and existence of secondhand depression. I had heard of compassion fatigue and burnout but had never considered what was past those. I think that secondhand depression definitely exists. The fact of taking on the load of other's depression can be a trigger for a counselor's own depression. I had also not considered that it could get so bad to the point of the counselor being suicidal. I think often times we do view mental health professionals as having everything figured out. That is not true. I had a moment of realization about this when my own therapist was saying that she gets anxiety and sees a therapist of her own. She believes that seeing a therapist is an important aspect of being a therapist herself.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: It is incredibly important for helping professionals to be self-aware and practice self-care. By being self aware they assess their own needs and biases. By confronting their own issues they become better equipped to help others. By practicing self-care and filling up their own cups they also make sure they are offering their very best. As professionals we thrive when we feel out best and to do so we must practice self care.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: The main strategies that I use for personal self-care are yoga and spending time outdoors. I feel most myself when I am in nature hiking and enjoying the beauty that nature offers. Yoga helps my body feel better and stronger. I have recently not been practicing as much yoga and would like to ramp up my practice again.

Graphic/Picture:This photo shows my two main strategies combined. Here I am on my yoga mat in winter in Yosemite National Park. Sitting here and stretching in the shadow of El Capitan next to a flowing river I felt at peace and entirely present in the moment.

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Professional "Take Away" from Reviewing Resources: It was very important for me to learn about burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma, because they are things that I can look out for in the future when I am a LPC. I know now to look out for these things and take care of them so that I can give clients the best help that I can give.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: Self-care is important in the helping profession because if you are not finding ways to help take care of yourself, you cannot help others properly. To give the best help, you yourself have to be at your best.

Identification and Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: Two strategies I plan to use are exercising and traveling. Exercising can/will help me de-stress throughout the the week. When I say traveling, I mean weekend trips to the DFW area to visit my cousin and just explore. I often feel the least stressed and most happy when I am with her, because she is my best friend and is like a sister to me.

Graphic/Picture: The picture that I chose is of me after a concert I went to in Dallas with my cousin. It was a weekend trip that was very much needed, and I think it would be very beneficial for me I take a trip like this once every few months.

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I chose this picture because I love to "Netflix and Chill".  I can sit in my recliner on my heating pad for hours at a time.  It truly calms me and is relaxing.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources
The biggest takeaway I have from the counselor burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma resources is realizing how real this is in my future profession.  To have this many resources available, plus so many more, it shows the true need for self-care and understanding personal boundaries and needs.

Reflection of Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession
I believe self-care is extremely important because if I am unable to take care of myself and respect myself, how am I ever going to be able to lead someone into bettering themselves?  I need to practice what I preach and be an example for my clients/students.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies
One strategy I can use to practice self-care is taking a personal day from life.  No work, no children, no family; just complete me time.  Take a bath, go get a massage, sit in the park with a book, or my favorite-take the top and doors off my jeep and just drive.  Another strategy is playing tennis.  I love playing tennis and enjoy the time with my teammates on the court. This also allows me adult time since I am surrounded by school age children all day long.

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Professional "Take Away" from Reviewing Resources: I think that the biggest take away for me was how important it is to make self care a practice from the very beginning. It is never too late to start, but waiting until you have free time, a vacation day, or are already feeling overwhelmed is only opening yourself up to experiencing compassion fatigue, potential burnout, and even secondary trauma. I have always struggled making this a priority, but it is clear in the resources that it should be in order for me to really serve my clients.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: Self-Care practices are important to ensure that you are capable of being fully present in your position as a helping professional. The effects of not implementing self-care practices effect not only the clients that I work with but it will also affect my life outside of work. A long period without self-care can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: I am relatively new to utilizing self-care strategies. I found myself experiencing burnout symptoms and needed to make some changes. I have started to journal regularly and making sure that I set aside specific time in my day to allow myself to reflect and decompress by writing down my thoughts and feelings. I have also started to workout more regularly which has become a great outlet for me to get in the zone and not focus on anything else that needs to happen or challenges that need to be solved.

Graphic/Picture: The attached photo is of my journal that I write in daily. I am picky about the pens I use and have fallen in love with the Frixion erasable pens. I used a different color in my journal based on the type of entry I am making. This helps me organize my thoughts so that what I need to get out of my head makes it to the paper.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: I never knew how much in-depth research and discussion had been conducted regarding counselor’s compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, and self-care.   My biggest takeaway was reading how one mental health counselor had to stop practicing for some years to help his healing and recovery process.  Working in the field of
youth mental health,  I have found myself to be more prone to show emotions of sadness faster.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: The practice of self-care is crucial to the helping profession to maintain health and wellness that prevent burnout, fatigue, and compassion. While counselors are guiding others, they need to perform self-checks when they feel the need to do so to serve their clients to the best of their ability.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: Prior to the start of the graduate program, I found myself utilizing exercise and travel as my forms of self-care.  Due to the high workload and crises encounters in my field, I always need to make sure to stop and breathe as well socialize with individuals outside the workplace. I find myself to be a planner, so I plan my vacations and workouts to keep my work, home, and life balance.

Graphic/Picture: The attached photo is from my vacation to the Seattle this past summer.  I take time yearly to get away from my daily environment to see new places and recharge myself before the start of the next fiscal year and school semester.

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Professional "Take Away" from Reviewing Resources: After reading all of the resources in regards to counselor burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma, my biggest takeaway was noticing how no one in the counseling field really talks about this. Being in the educational field, we often hear about teacher burnout or student trauma but nothing is truly mentioned about counselors. I was very naïve to think that counselors do not experience any type of burnout since they are quick to give out information to others on how to avoid fatigue and burnout.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession:  Self-care is a crucial aspect of the helping profession in order to avoid burnout and fatigue. As counselors, if we are not taking care of ourselves, we are not able to take care of others. We must practice what we preach and ensure that we are taking care of ourselves in order to best serve our clients.

Identification and Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies:  The two strategies I can use to practice self-care are setting work boundaries, and reading for pleasure. For my work boundaries, I need to ensure that I am not bringing work home. I stick to working during my contract hours, therefore giving myself a break. For reading, I often read books that I want my students to read so I will focus on reading for pure entertainment.

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Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources: To be quite honest, my biggest take away from reviewing the resources is simply the amount of resources available on the topic and the numerous ways to prioritize counselor self-care. Without prior experience as a mental health or school counselor or in an individual counseling course, I unjustly assumed that counselors were the experts on self-care since it is one of the things they work on teaching their clients/students. Though I now realize it was naive of me to think that it came easy to them just because they were counselors, I had no idea how many resources were available to assist counselors with their own self-care and possible trauma or fatigue.

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession: Self-care does not necessarily come easily or naturally for anyone, regardless of their profession or background. As noted in The Ethics of Self Care by Jacqueline Zeller, “as a school counselor you have an ethical imperative to take care of yourself, not just your students, so you can function effectively” (Zeller, 2018). It is not accurate to think that any human could provide excellent support and guidance to another, without being stable and being fulfilled both personally and professionally. Counselors will certainly experience high stress situations that could lead to burnout or fatigue both physically and emotionally, and it is imperative that they take time to prioritize themselves the way they do their students or clients.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies: There are various strategies that counselors can use to practice adequate self-care. These will vary in success depending on the person and the situation, and will likely be personal preference which strategies work for different people. The first form of self-care that I will practice is daily exercise. It is proven that exercise leads to better mental and physical health, and is something that has always made me feel better overall. By holding a minimum of 15 minutes each day to participate in some form of solo exercise, I will work towards bettering my mental and physical health and holding time for just me. The next self-care tactic I will use is setting a time to leave work and return to personal life. I often reflect and bounce ideas out loud on my drive home, which is positive for me, but I end up bringing work home and am sometimes unable to focus on my home and family life. I am going to challenge myself to put work away both physically and mentally when I exit the highway to turn onto my street. This will allow me to remind myself to prioritize my personal life when not at work - which is crucial to my personal health.

Graphic/Picture: Attached is a photo of my own workout corner. When I am in this corner on my bike, I am so proud of myself for prioritizing my mental and physical health and for taking the time for just me. However, I often convince myself that one of my three jobs or schoolwork is more important at that moment - though I almost immediately regret it. Today, the sun hit my workout corner perfectly for a photo and reminded me to bring light to my own life rather than just trying to do so for others.