This next week we will continue a focus on self-care as well as consider the compassion we have for others. Please post, just briefly, on what you take from these articles, and if there are any self-care ideas you have used that you can share with the group.
Barnett, J. et al (2007) In Pursuit of Wellness: The
Self-care Imperative. Professional
Psychology, 38 (6) 603-612
Figley, C. & Radley, M. (2007). The Social Psychology of Compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35, (3),
207-214
I have learned about the importance of self-care throughout my studies however the article by Barnett et al. (2007) presented some compelling information that I had not heard before. The authors report that many psychologists have histories and vulnerabilities that place them at an increased for distress and impairment. I am willing to speculate that this may also be true for the social work profession as it seems like many individuals who choose to go into a helping profession have been through many challenges of their own. It is a little ironic that individuals most at risk for distress and burnout are also the ones most likely to be in such a mentally and emotionally demanding field.
ReplyDeleteIn order to practice self-care while working in the field I have worked hard to maintain balance in my life. This means making enough time for family, friends, and passions outside of work and knowing where my boundaries are. Just before graduate school I was in an employment position that required me to have a work cell phone and be on call from 8:00am to 8:00pm every week day. This position also came with copious amounts of paperwork which sometimes resulted in my weekends being filled by work as well. Eventually I learned to balance my personal and work life by turning my phone off on time, regardless of external pressures and by taking weekends for myself, even if paperwork wasn’t finished form the prior week. When I started taking off my work hat at the end of the day and spending real time doing the things that I enjoy like hiking, climbing, or kayaking, I was able to feel more balanced. I feel that this actually made me a better worker too because I had the ability to recharge and return
return more focused!
DeleteI think this topic is an important one for all careers, but especially for social workers and those in the helping profession. Personally, simply being aware of the immensity of all the world's problems is enough to weigh down on my mind and body. This factor is only compounded by the helping nature of those in this profession.
ReplyDeleteI, like the many others the articles point out, partially entered into this field as a response to having overcome personal struggles in my own life. However, I understand that seeking resolution or help with those struggles are to play no part in the help I offer to others. One thing I have learned is that there is no shame in asking for help and that goes for needing to speak to a professional, after all, we're human too.
I found the two articles comprehensive and compelling when discussing mental health professionals and self-care. In the Barnett (2007) article, I found his perspectives interesting on the ethical obligation to self-care. In addition, I enjoyed that he identified why one chooses to be a mental health profession. I began to identify with this need to relieve distress in others and have some understanding of my own personal distress.
ReplyDeleteIn the Radey and Figley (2007) article, I took away a significant amount about affect, resources, and self-care relationship. I became keen of this particular article because the authors identified the benefits and positivity perspective of the mental health profession. These benefits included seeking positive fulfillment through our work and focusing on altruism, compassion, resilience, success, and thriving versus negative affects such as distress. I found it interesting in the discussion part of this article when the authors encouraged that students should be equipped with appropriate skills and perspectives that will enhance our compassionate care and self-care in addition to the necessary skills in human relations.
In all, I have found self-care to be challenging but a necessary key to our complex lives at graduate students, colleagues, friends, mothers, father, sisters, brothers, wives, boyfriends, etc. One particular thing I do for self-care is to check in with myself periodically and examine my physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being. We will be doing this together on Tuesday for my Show-and-Tell activity!
The issue of burn out is something that can happen in any job but seems to be more prevalent in the helping professions. These articles gave an insight of how feelings of burn out can happen and the warning signs to be aware of, such as frustration, impatience, and increased fatigue (Barnett et al., 2007). Making sure that I take time for self-care is difficult at times but has definitely had a positive effect on me. A few years back I was suffering from panic attacks and increased anxiety. Many people in my life including my primary care physician suggested exercise and meditation to help with the anxiety. I took the advice and luckily found a type of exercise that I enjoyed. This addition to my life has been amazingly helpful. Lately I have not had the time to exercise as much as I would like and I really feel a difference. After reading this article I am remembering how important it is to make that time.
ReplyDeleteI also thought after reading these articles that I will miss my supervision and field class when I enter the profession.. Barnett et al. (2007) suggested using peer support, supervision, and psychotherapy as part of a self-care routine. I think that supervision is a great way to debrief my week in a positive, healthy way. I think having supervision or some type if peer group to meet with regularly would be beneficial to any place of business. It would be an opportunity for employees to meet as a group and go over things that are stressful, troubling, etc. in the workplace. I hope to encourage supervision or peer meetings in my place of work in the future if it is something that is not already being implemented.
I found a lot of interesting statistics in the Barnett et al. (2007) article, specifically the past studies they cited which found high numbers of psychologists who had disclosed personal histories of abuse, and that professionals, too, often engage in maladaptive behaviors to cope. I think it is important to discuss this, as Lee said, it is important to understand that professionals in helping fields are human too.
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that many professionals disclosed that they have experienced past or current traumas and engage in maladaptive behaviors to cope really contributes to the capability for empathy. I personally decided to enter in the field of mental health and social work due to past experiences with loss, and I think my own personal work since that time has provided me with skills, tools, and capacity to empathize and I currently utilize while providing others with counseling and support.
I loved the positive spin that Figley and Radley (2007) gave on creating compassion momentum and feeling fulfilled in work with clients. I loved the quote in the introduction: "Too often we focus on disorders, psychopathology, dysfunction, and problems. We must balance these negative elements with a focus on
ReplyDeletealtruism, compassion, resilience, success, and thriving (Seligman, 2003; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000)." For me this quote, and this entire take on compassion fatigue/self care seems more in line with the social work profession. I think this article did a good job at recognizing the risks and potential factors contributing to compassion fatigue, but choosing to focus on a clinical social worker's strengths and the positive. This was a reminder of not only applying the strengths perspectives to our clients but also to ourselves and recognizing when we do something well! The article mentioned how important a positive affect is in striving for compassion satisfaction. It reminds me of David's show-and-tell of sharing something that you did well or are proud of each week.
I like how the Radey and Figley (2007) article reframed the term compassion fatigue to compassion satisfaction. Compassion is a major component of social work in a clinical field. The article seems to reframe the ideas and focus from burnout and fatigue to the sense of flourishing and joy that comes from helping others. Focusing on the positive is a simple, yet powerful approach.
ReplyDeleteThe article entitled "In Pursuit of Wellness: The Self-Care Imperative" by Barnett, Elman, Baker, & Schoener was extremely helpful.
The article mentions that failure to perform adequate self-care is a detriment to "our clients, our profession, ourselves, and others in our lives." (Barnett, 2007 p.603) If an individual is trying therapy for the first time and is already skeptical about the benefits of therapy, and the therapist has an important role. The idea that therapists should be self-aware enough to realize when they are in need of help is a valid point, but may not necessarily hold true, although I would hope that it is, as discussed in the article. It is also important to have colleagues and supervisors 'looking out' for each other as well. Having a good support system is an important aspect of self-care. My parents both work in the helping profession. My mother has worked in residential facilities for about 30 years and my father is a clinician. They have always worked long hours and had stressful jobs. It is difficult for them to disconnect from work since it has been such a large part of their identify and lives for so many years. Although they do have some good self-care strategies, I have seen their jobs take a stressful toll on their day to day lives. Working to create balance in life seems to be the secret to happiness and self-care. I really enjoyed how this article ended with encouraging a supportive and safe environment for colleagues to share and seek help, without judgment.
It is essential that social workers are practicing self-care and potentially even going to therapy to work out internal conflicts in a safe place. Practicing better self-care is essential. It is something I am working on personally.
I really enjoyed the Barnett et al. (2007) article. I found it really fascinating how many psychologists end up being burned out due to the lack of self-care. If a clinician is going to work with clients who have suffered trauma, eventually that trauma is going to affect the clinician in negative ways. The clinician can become emotionally exhausted, depressed, dissatisfied with their work and can suffer from secondary victimization. The psychologist can turn to alcohol and drugs in order to cope with the stress. This is unfortunate because they are often aware that they need help but refuse to reach out. There is still some type of stigma attached to reaching out for help.
ReplyDeleteAs Barnet states, self-care should be seen as an ongoing preventative activity for all psychologists in order to prevent burnout. Self care should not be seen as an act of selfishness but as part of our job. I thought it was interesting how Radey & Figley state that neglecting our self-care can hurt us and our clients. We can lose our ability to have compassion and empathy if we are not in a healthy place emotionally. Being subjected to the pain and suffering our clients will affect us at work and at home, causing feelings of hopelessness and unhappiness. It is really important to include self-care into our daily lives. There are many forms of mindfulness that we can incorporate into our practice. They include meditation, yoga, running ,reading and therapy. If we practice mindfulness we can have a higher positivity-negativity ratio. This will help us to control our work stress and that will benefit us and our clients.
The subject of mindfulness practice is endlessly interesting to read about. I am more inclined to use mindfulness simply because these researchers point out the value it has in being a more effective social worker. Using mindfulness as an "additional tool" is especially appealing for its effectiveness in enhancing human well-being(NASW 1999). The simple fact that it can be practiced anywhere at any time of day is another compelling reason to incorporate it into practice. After reading these articles, I believe I am more likely to practice mindfulness on a more regular basis because of it's dual purpose; to help me as a clinician, which in turn helps the client and others around me because I'm more present and available. Practicing mindfulness also aligns with the basic concepts of social work practice; affect regulation, attunement, emapthy and compassion.
ReplyDeleteAs Barnett's article points out, unless social workers take care of themselves, they're likely to experience "burnout" as a result of experiencing distress over an extended period of time (Baker, 2003)
Because research proves that clinicians should include this as part of their practice,I am compelled to use this on a more regular basis.
This week, I enjoyed reading about the tactics used to prevent burnout because I am already experiencing these feelings in my internship this year. I particularly liked learning more about personal self-care. Radey (2007) states that, “On an individual level, therapists can take care of themselves in common ways to facilitate overall health including exercising, eating right, taking time off, and allowing time for self-reflection.” In perusing this list, I was able to check off most methods discussed, however, I struggled when I reached the part about eating healthy. While stressed out, eating healthy is the last idea on my mind because eating junk food is so comforting during my states of feeling overwhelmed. This is definitely an area I could improve on.
ReplyDeleteRadey also mentions the ratio theory which concludes that individuals are much more likely to flourish in their life if they can consistently provide more positive aspects and thoughts in their lives than negative ones. Radey states that, “Consistent with the positivity ratio hypothesis, those who were flourishing were far more likely to identify three positive experiences for every one negative experience in daily web-based reports over a 28-day period.” This concept closely aligns with my reasoning to create gratitude lists every morning. By providing myself positive insight and reasons to be grateful, I can offset any negative feelings or occurrences throughout the day, just as long as my positive ratio is outweighed by the negative.
The concept of “burnout” in the social work profession has always been something that has been present in my learning. This fear of burnout has always loomed over my as I have gone through my BSW and now my MSW programs. I find that because I am almost hyper aware of this concept I do a lot of things to try and prevent it. In the articles they gave great examples of what burnout looks like , and I have personally found that when I have had a very trying client that has affected me I always try and debrief myself. Having a great supervisor and support from others around you is always important when processing the issues we deal with , when talking with our clients. I have found it helpful for me , besides seeking supervision is to mentally try and find the “brighter side “ of the situation. For instance if I have a client who is being extremely difficult and aggressive after the session I may feel angry or like they don’t deserve help . After those feelings pass I always try and think of another option , like something could have happened to them that they did not share, or what they are dealing with is something that luckily I have not had to endure , so I am lucky. It is important to keep ourselves in check even when feeling deflated or stuck. This way we can help avoid burnout but seeing the “brighter side”
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