Professional Counseling Self-Care by Melissa Snell

Ms. Fountain-Flows-Freely Loses Her Peace and Smile

msnell1_5 — 2024-10-27 21:38:20 UTC

Professional Counselors are highly susceptible to burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma. Because of the level of empathy and compassion that many counselors feel, counselors need to prioritize personal self-care. As a piece of self-care, it is important that a counselor allocate time for reflection, peer collaboration and support, and/or even person counseling for the counselor in order to be proactive in avoiding burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma.

Ms. Fountain-Flows-Freely Finds Her Peace

msnell1_5 — 2024-10-27 22:24:31 UTC

The first self-care strategy which I will use as a graduate student and future counselor, is Time and Task Management. Over the last several months, I have discovered the importance of implementing a calendar. For me, this is a more extensive process than just writing appointments and due dates. It involves identifying tasks, prioritizing, tracking progress, notes, and reflection, essentially enabling me to focus my time, energy, and thoughts on the priorities, the purposeful, and the positive.

Ms. Fountain-Flows-Freely Finds Her Smile

msnell1_5 — 2024-10-27 22:32:22 UTC

The second self-care strategy which I will implement is time for personal pursuits and hobbies. I enjoy photography, drawing, and painting, but I rarely take the time to enjoy these activities. Each of these activities give me a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment.

Ms. Fountain-Flows-Freely Feels the Weight of it All

msnell1_5 — 2024-10-27 22:53:10 UTC

Self-care is a crucial aspect of the counseling profession. Often as individuals, we tend to focus on what is in front of us, what we need to do at work, at home, for everyone else. In the process, we may lose sight of our personal struggles and stressors. Just as we would remind our clients that they have to prioritize their own health and well-being, we need to also have a plan in place for person self-care so that we may better serve our clients and the counseling profession.