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.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

 
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.

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.       

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.     

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. 

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.

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.

 

 

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. 

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.