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Home is more of a feeling than a place at this point in life. When I need to find my soul or ground myself, I go to the ocean, the forest, and/or mountains. My physical "home" is in Seattle where all of these natural elements exist together. When I feel overwhelmed or stressed, returning to nature helps me to remember my why and redirects my perspective.

It may be cliché to say, nonetheless it is true for me, going outside helps me to get outside of my head and away from my stressors. Fresh air freshens my take on things and clears my mind; I am able to look at everything differently with time and space.

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The liquid being poured into the various cups symbolizes the external stimuli that we process.

The individual cups stacked together to make one tower is representative of the different parts of the self-concept, the various parts that make one whole.

If the cups are not balanced and too much is poured into them, the structure loses integrity and becomes unstable. The instability makes the cup ineffective in its purpose.

Self care is a way to balance all that we as counselors have poured into us. We must compartmentalize and have boundaries, similar to each of these cups, in order to maintain the integrity of our own purpose and structure as both counselors and humans.

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There are many strategies suggested in the resources for self-care in helping profession:

Healthy diet-helps maintain immune system and overall health which may be affected by external stressors

Exercise helps release neurotransmitters to combat extrenal stressors

Sleep helps the body and mind rejuvenate and helps with patience and perspective. Maintaining composure and patience becomes difficult when fatigued.

Meditation and gratitude help shift focus from negative thoughts to clearer thoughts.

Boundaries and awareness of the traumas within the profession can help establish coping mechanisms.

Seeking relationships with colleagues builds a team which lends to helping one another and less of an isolated feeling.

Relationships with other peers in the mental health field can help the professional talk out the situation and work on solutions together.

Seeking mental health and recognizing overstressed feelings within one-self shows confidence in the system, and a sense of self-knowledge.

Balance of personal time, family-friend time, and work time allows oneself to establish and maintain boundaries.

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It is important for those in helping professions to remember to help themselves first. If the helper has depleted their own resources, they may be more of a liability than a helper to the helpee or client.

Exposure to other people's traumas can have lasting effects on mental health professionals and first responders. It is important to first take proactive steps to reduce the risk of being affected by the situations affecting the helpee. It is more difficult to take a reactive approach once the effect has taken place. However, it is not always possible to prevent any side effects from working with a helpee, so it is imperative to recognize the symptoms of STSD or compassion fatigue along with burnout. The responder or helper should seek help and take time to heal when they have been effected in this way.

Helping others overcome trauma, exposes the helper to the trauma, although it is different, it still leaves its own effect.

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The most important take-away from the various resources is that counselors and other professionals who work to help people who have experienced trauma will be exposed to those traumas. The stress that accompany this secondary exposure can have occupational and personal effects on the professional designated as the helpee. The effects may have spillover onto other clients or people associated with the helpee. There are strategies to help offset this, but it is up to the helpee to utilize the strategies and recognize when the effects have interfered with their ability to cope.