Self Care by Kendra Hodges

Professional “Take Away” from Reviewing Resources

kwebb1_26 — 2024-10-28 02:48:09 UTC

In jobs where time off is possible (like in education), one should make self-care a priority and create habits of self-care that can be continued once the demands of the job return (Zeller, n.d.).

Burnout can appear in settings where counselors deal with clients who are experiencing or have experienced severe trauma and abuse. It can also appear in situations where counselors also work in organizations that require them to bear the burden of a large amount of non-counseling duties. Burnout can also appear in students who are pursing master's or doctoral degress (Auslos et al, n.d.) This was new information for me, but makes sense as students in these programs can struggle with juggling their curriculum requirements, gaining field hours and, in most cases, also holding a full time job and managing a home life. I juggle these things myself everyday, but don't really know that I've ever taken the time to evaluate if I'm hitting burnout with all that I'm doing.

Battling burnout begins by setting and maintaining firm boundaries, prioritizing your own wellness as much as you do others, and taking to time evaluate your situation and simplify or streamling as many tasks as possible (Penn State, n.d.)

Reflection on Importance of Self-Care in the Helping Profession

kwebb1_26 — 2024-10-28 02:48:25 UTC

I've heard about burnout since I entered the education field in 2022. It seems as though its a topic often talked about during Professional Development and In Service days. However, what's most often talked about is how to identify it, but the discussion over what to do about it is always 'copy and paste' from one discussion to the next. There's always the discussion of 'know when you're overwhelmed and take a break', 'ask a colleague for help', 'take a mental health day' and other things like this. However, if anyone knows anything about working in education right now, it's all lip service. You can't take a day off, there's no subs to cover you classroom and you have to spend half a day planning activities for the students anyhow. You can't ask colleague for help, you're literally all drowning in the same mess. There's no time to take a break because you just don't have the time. They even find ways to keep you busy during your planning period and most places, your lunch period too. Teachers endure so much to keep the ship afloat and admin quite literally piles on more responsibilities to you each week. Burnout in education is real, and as budgets and funding continue to dwindle, there's no end in sight.

I strongly feel that work/life balance is important and have always set firm boundaries from the beginning and stuck to them. However, it doesn't always paint you in a positive light with admin and can sometimes lead to frustration when you need help or assistance. However, I feel that if educators collectively continue to advocate for themselves, then maybe, just maybe, we can take the conversation about burnout out of the PD in the library to actually applying it in the day to day.

Identification & Description of Personal Self-Care Strategies

kwebb1_26 — 2024-10-28 02:48:41 UTC

I will continue to set and maintain firm boundaries as I transition from education and back to a mental health care facility. My children mean everything to me and I will not prioritize work over them. I never have and I never will. The work I do with my clients is important, but my children deserve nothing less than the best I have to give and I will continue to work to ensure that for them.

However, when focusing on my children first and work second, I find I often leave caring for myself for last. I would like to make a habit of treating myself to more long baths instead of quick showers, to allowing myself the time to steal away and get lost in a book whenever I can, and to remind myself that it's better for everyone if I do take a day to treat myself and spend some time alone so I can rest, recharge and be a better mom and employee.

Take Time for Yourself

kwebb1_26 — 2024-10-28 02:48:53 UTC

References

kwebb1_26 — 2024-10-28 03:13:18 UTC

Ausloos, C., Salpietro, L., Jacoby, R., and Clark, M. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet02-xythos.content.blackboardcdn.com/5fb6991aeccdc/4998548?X-Blackboard-S3-Bucket=learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos&X-Blackboard-Expiration=1730106000000&X-Blackboard-Signature=fkCYdMg6nR9CGCoi0PjnofcLChXQB%2B8lYsDHsezlj4c%3D&X-Blackboard-Client-Id=100963&X-Blackboard-S3-Region=us-east-1&response-cache-control=private%2C%20max-age%3D21600&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27Feeling%2520the%2520Sizzle%2520What%2520to%2520do%2520when%2520experiencing%2520burnout%25281%2529.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEMP%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIASUL6p55dqa4JHggymswLbEODrNlcNfPkI7hSmYnldcAiABG%2FptqVVZ77K4%2B5GHEgtW9iprW1Ke%2Bm8p7AGR0j2GLCqzBQg8EAQaDDYzNTU2NzkyNDE4MyIM4KjBq8bs0NXKBL5pKpAFVKPf9UfkKjHGFJgdsHGSaZnnncwzznEy6z1apy%2B%2BCM2cIpZnw%2BKyq7IGE2vB6DdDJQ45EmmdTztyQceOitLd%2FPui4WoWX5C54SgQL8zQMZYCVDpCdbR2%2BSfibJOxbhU0nYMd3EVdfzw%2F2Evw5763hISbgOPGLVHnGZHmQ7hYdYUxsmDfcDF1pJqPKgGU0KyLA5ieFMEiJK4p3cnsBXLqKY4FsnXvi8wZelMcIuG2UmH9ltsiKdioIRGDeFlWDsenmeandKy5CuSUUKT5NLTWwlm%2BsqMLx6qtbfL9QcQoNcARcb0%2Bx14HY3uhAX%2BF%2BevkYuTXuvWSFdAwQzo2bZzJ01vTQlzfzWVMDeTnvGImu85gXTfLVFRl3whUqUtHMxWkdqhMKIOzs%2BjpYCB%2BLHiqAxpSIuZqJJOELVemXR5gSwrz%2Bx9zUsYMcS%2BljmynLmcqjn55mOBbV%2B6yjQ1v3YMoZJ6OYcFb%2BqNH5%2FA%2BbL2LHc98IkdeabASsMEgv9KonRnPpN03MA6VEhb8DZk6ks4QbgL6NzM9I7kgKmeCyM0hPB%2BOp3Bq5Hc2U7IB6mMIs62cVonOxEAN4vamwz%2Fq3568kGGib1fVHXSksiDDr8OThXZc%2BMGuNqihgZFC%2FEPAzT7al7mS3bCcDqaf649QX9MC31TiG%2FYy9kV61Q67rEScCWR1yGPdBZgW2UDwY9Hx3NKxC9AbqtdReWqgHjMfv7Z2mUe95KBPvPQ5xIDtV6cs8jbGm%2FiGGlASmHvYlvumaeivZeBWGrapniHEySAf4InmHWd4gUS2JpvLHJSBo0sYYq83QVv4L5daPrPrxu3scmeSmTF9deJvrvG56N%2FjW2hhhvEaHkirZIEGV%2FsOyVvibGww3Oz7uAY6sgG9bPCVUCxb8UXrRHrBH3eNcQ%2Bwm93LIkN9oTJA9RLSO6loa%2FxuIvQaWk2Cr1cxqvxj%2FbHAQ2tXFOIiq6LUsn4GKbu1Y0N9COGWiQ0w6lubqL3yUTY%2BLViavGOAV5Km%2FIFF0OOFIE52vf7AtiFhj%2BS7xte6%2FHGZ%2Fqb73NBHHAapcySYDqbsCGY3EFkhW1xeEBbgPWnvhRuS4o%2F7ra7W6UYtkk27X%2ByePLu4%2FhwNI6EFDdbY&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20241028T030000Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAZH6WM4PLSLVC3UG7%2F20241028%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=c18c583e4f4b5e18afbef3ec1af668d15f5f02de3e897101b2eaba9ed01b6a0.

Penn State PRO Wellness. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://prowellness.childrens.pennstatehealth.org/school/mental-wellness/prevention-self-care/.

Zeller, J. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Newsletters/December-2018/The-Ethics-of-Self-Care#:~:text=The%20ASCA%20Ethical%20Standards%20state,needed%20to%20ensure%20professional%20competence.%E2%80%9D.