Counselor Self Care

Self-care is critical for effective and ethical counseling practice and this inspirational book offers diverse, realistic perspectives on how to achieve work–life balance and personal wellness from graduate school through retirement. In addition to the authors’ unique perspectives as professionals at different stages of their careers, guest contributors—ranging from graduate students, to new professionals, to seasoned counselors—share their experiences and thoughts about self-care, including what challenges them most. Both personal and conversational in tone, this book will help you to create your own practical self-care action plan through reflection on important issues, such as managing stress, establishing personal and professional boundaries, enhancing relationships, and finding meaning in life.

Psychotherapy is an increasingly stressful profession. Yet therapists spend most of their time helping clients deal with their stress, not caring for their own. This book is designed as a tool for the experienced counselor, junior therapist, and graduate student, as the issues confronted and discussed herein are relevant to anyone in the field, regardless of experience or expertise. Dr. Weiss has written a book in an easy, conversational tone, filled with concrete examples and blending research findings, clinical experience and theoretical approaches into practical suggestions and sound advice. The book is divided into three parts, discussing therapist concerns and questions that are continually raised, and providing practical tools based on clinical experience and research findings. It will be useful to all mental health professionals who have felt the strain of their practice.

Therapists are often expected to be immune to the kind of problems that they help clients through. This book serves to demonstrate that this is certainly not the case: they are no more resistant to difficult and unexpected personal circumstances than anyone else. In this book Marie Adams looks into the kind of problems that therapists can be afraid to face in their own lives, including divorce, bereavement, illness, depression and anxiety and uses the experience of others to examine the best ways of dealing with them. The Myth of the Untroubled Therapist looks at the lives of forty practitioners to learn how they coped during times of personal strife. CBT, psychoanalytic, integrative and humanistic therapists from an international array of backgrounds were interviewed about how they believed their personal lives affected their work with clients. Over half admitted to suffering from depression since entering the profession and many continued practising while ill or under great stress. Some admitted to using their work as a ‘buffer’ against their personal circumstances in an attempt to avoid focusing on their own pain. Using clinical examples, personal experience, research literature and the voices of the many therapists interviewed, Adams challenges mental health professionals to take a step back and consider their own well-being as a vital first step to promoting insight and change in those they seek to help. Linking therapists’ personal histories to their choice of career, The Myth of the Untroubled Therapist pinpoints some of the key elements that may serve, and sometimes undermine, counsellors working in private practice or mental health settings. The book is ideal for counsellors and psychotherapists as well as social workers and those working within any kind of helping profession.

This innovative text presents a comprehensive review of the theoretical and empirical support for a wellness approach to counseling with current techniques for client assessment, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and intervention. The authors provide holistic strategies for wellness promotion with children, adolescents, and young, midlife, and older adults, as well as in counseling with groups, couples, and families. Each chapter includes reflection questions, learning activities, and resources to deepen readers’ understanding of the content and application to practice. Wellness boosters offer quick methods for clients and counselors to increase their domain-specific and overall well-being. In addition, experienced counselors share their personal experiences implementing wellness interventions in "Practitioner Spotlight" vignettes. A chapter on counselor self-care completes the book. Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com. To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website Reproduction requests for material from boks published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

Dr. Alfred J. Malinowski's book provides a comprehensive resource on self-care for those working in the field of psychotherapy. Beginning with an exploration of the role and duties of the mental health practitioner, Dr. Malinowski describes how the demands of practice can lead therapists to diminished psychological well-being. He explores the impact this can have and, through an examination of the latest research, reiterates the importance of the self-care of the practitioner. He presents a number of self-care techniques and strategies and explains how they can be applied to maintain psychological, spiritual, physical and social well-being. A final section explores the need for additional training for psychotherapists in the area of the hazards and self-care, both in graduate courses for future clinicians and to help experienced therapists continue learning and practicing self-care principles in their daily lives. Highlighting the importance of self-care in the psychotherapy profession, this book will be of immeasurable value to psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, social workers, and other mental health professionals.

This highly anticipated second edition written for students, clinicians, educators, and supervisors offers practical perspectives on the lifelong quest for personal wellness. Through conversational and deeply personal narratives, the authors reveal their self-care journeys at different stages of their careers, and 39 guest contributors—ranging from graduate students to counseling veterans—share how they overcome setbacks and prioritize self-care to maintain competent, ethical practice. Topics include practicing self-care throughout your career, strategies for managing stress, establishing personal and professional boundaries, enhancing relationships, finding meaning in life, and creating a realistic self-care plan. Firsthand accounts throughout the book have been updated, and new narratives have been added on self-care practices for healing from grief, self-care for grief counselors, staying committed to self-care, global self-care practices, permission to be, creating balance among chaos, making self-care nonnegotiable, contemplations at midcareer, and self-care planning. *Requests for digital versions from ACA can be found on www.wiley.com *To purchase print copies, please visit the ACA website www.counseling.org *Reproduction requests for material from books published by ACA should be directed to [email protected]

Counselor Wellness: Caring for Self to Care for Others underscores the importance of self-care for counselors in order to maintain an ethical, life-giving practice and minimize the risks of burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma. The book provides valuable insight regarding the inherent risks and challenges that come with serving others. It contains timely research and practical strategies for reducing stress and preventing the deleterious effects that can derail personal and professional effectiveness. Each chapter begins with a reflection from a counselor, setting the stage for robust discussions about the rigors of counseling practice and the personal challenges many counselors face. The chapters feature cutting-edge research and evidence-based approaches to recognizing, intervening, and preventing threats to emotional well-being. Case illustrations and guided exercises personalize the reading experience and help readers draw connections between the material and their everyday lives. Key topics addressed include the increasing complexity and severity of clients' issues, the cost of empathy, ethical issues, developing a personal wellness orientation, and resiliency. Designed to help counselors prioritize self-care in order to support the successful care of others, Counselor Wellness is an exemplary resource for pre-service counselors, as well as those in practice. Richard D. Parsons, Ph.D. is a professor of counselor education at West Chester University. He has over 40 years of university teaching experience and has had a private clinical practice for over 30 years. Dr. Parsons serves as a consultant to educational and mental health institutions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. He has authored or co-authored over 90 books, book chapters, and professional articles. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Temple University. Karen L. Dickinson, Ph.D. is an associate professor and graduate coordinator of counselor education at West Chester University. She has 13 years of university teaching experience and over 30 years of experience as a teacher and school counselor in the K-12 education system. Bridget Asempapa, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of counselor education and the coordinator of the school counseling certification program at West Chester University. She has a dual license in professional school counseling and clinical mental health counseling.

Therapists and other helping professionals, such as teachers, doctors and nurses, social workers, and clergy, work in highly demanding fields and can suffer from burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary stress. This happens when they give more attention to their clients’ well being than their own. Both students and practitioners in these fields will find this book an essential guide to striking an optimal balance between self-care and other-care. The authors describe the joys and hazards of the work, the long road from novice to senior practitioner, the essence of burnout, ways to maintain the professional and personal self, methods experts use to maintain vitality, and a self-care action plan. Vivid real-life examples and self-reflection questions will engage and motivate readers to think about their own work and ways to enhance their own resilience. Eloquently written and supported by extensive research, helping professionals will find this a valuable resource both when a novice and when an experienced practitioner.