Unit 3 is the third and final topic in our Rehabilitation Counseling Foundations module. This unit is designed to offer context about the role of self-care as a professional rehabilitation counselor. The intention of Unit 2 is: (a) to engage in self-reflection, (b) to deepen self-awareness, and (c) to begin developing and/or further scaffold your self-care strategies that support a sustainable career in rehabilitation counseling.
Unit 2 Learning Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to engage and reflect on self-care strategies appropriate to the counselor role. This learning objective is related to CACREP Standard 2.F.1.l.
Readings From The Corey et al. Textbook
- Chapter 1: Taking Care of Yourself
- Chapter 3: Self-Care in Graduate School
- Chapter 9: Creating a Realistic Self-Care Plan
Your Learning Engagement
Your learning engagement will include the following tasks and learning artifacts:
- Review the provided materials and videos below
- Explore self-care strategies
- Explore barriers and resources to developing a sustainable self-care practice
- Begin your self-care journal
The Role of Self-Care
Connecting The Dots: Burnout. It's something we all have heard about that impacts various contexts across individuals' personal and professional lives. Perhaps we know someone who has experienced burnout, or perhaps we ourselves have experienced burnout. The reality is ... burnout happens ... to many people who are caregivers and/or work in helping professions. In fact, over the course of our counseling careers, we will very likely experience at least one professional fatigue syndrome (e.g., burnout, compassion fatigue, empathy fatigue). I know I have.
Resiliency. It's a fundamental promotion for ourselves and the clients we serve that is driven by the relationship we have with our selves and how we take care of our selves (yes, the space between "our" and "selves" is intentional). If we are not taking care of our selves, we invite burnout and fatigue experiences. Showing up in our lives ... in other words, not being on the metaphorical sidelines but being on the field fully invested, accountable, and committed to our self ... is nearly impossible if we are not taking care of our selves. Resiliency = showing up. It is not easy. I've tripped and fallen down over and over again. This is completely normal. Paradoxically, every time I fall down and pick my self up, putting one foot in front of the other so I can show up in my life, my relationship with my self (and with others) strengthens. To me, this is self-care.
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Connecting The Dots: the PowerPoint below offers additional context about Professional Fatigue Syndromes, resources to self-assess empathy fatigue and burnout, and strategies for developing resiliency. As you are reviewing the PowerPoint, I encourage you to think about how these concepts may impact you across multiple dimensions (e.g., environmental, emotional, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, intellectual).
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Additional Self-Care Perspectives
Connecting The Dots: the following videos offer additional perspectives on self-care. As you are watching the videos, take note of how you feel and the commentary that is circling in your mind. It's ok if you agree or disagree with these perspectives - take what resonates with you and leave the rest behind. The purpose of this activity is to create a space where different perspectives can be shared and considered.
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Why Self-Care Isn't Selfish
In this 12-minute video, Jessica Brubaker demystifies self-care while emphasizing that self-care is being in (or at least trying to be in) a healthy and functional relationship with our self. She describes how many of us have core beliefs that other people's needs are more important than ours which causes us to choose other people over our selves. She explains that having a relationship with our self means that we learn to believe that we are enough and then to treat our selves that way.
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Attribution: this video is produced by TEDxGrandCanyonUniversity (Arizona) and can be viewed on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/kShBhnnvJRU
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Self-Care Changes Neuropathways
In this 12-minute video, Dima Abou Chaaban discusses the role of neuroscience in self-care and how self-care can restructure the neuropathways in our brains. She explains that self-care increases "feel-good" neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin. She also explains how having a self-care plan is a toolkit people can turn to in times of distress.
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Attribution: this video is produced by TEDxUNBSaintJohn (Canada) and can be viewed on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/cohKoXx4jgg
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Self-Care As A Tool Of Self-Liberation
In this 12-minute video, Malebo Sephodi discusses how the burdens and pressures to have it all while neglecting our self can lead to burnout and lead to becoming less productive and ineffective. She emphasizes that when guilt is removed from the equation, self-care is not a selfish pursuit but a tool for self-liberation.
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Attribution: this video is produced by TEDxLyttelton Women (South Africa) and can be viewed on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/ja4CE4s9gj4
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Your Learning Artifacts
Learning Artifact #1
We begin the first learning artifact by exploring self-care strategies, and then each of us will subsequently identify and expand upon our personalized self-care strategies. This activity helps us build a foundation that we can return to during times when we need a lighthouse to break the surrounding fog. This activity is built on accountability ... to our selves and with each other. In the spirit of developing accountability partnerships, we will complete this activity collectively. However, it is important that each of us practice self-determination, therefore, you have the freedom to choose how much you want to share.
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You might experience vulnerability with this activity (especially for those of us who identify as introverts). You are not alone and this is completely normal. In fact, every time I do this activity with students and colleagues, I feel vulnerable. The most important thing to remember is that this activity is about you and engaging in self-reflection about the relationship you have with your self. This is not an activity of comparison or judgment ... of our selves or each other. As a well-known Chinese proverb states, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." This activity represents our single step.
Click the link to the above-right to access Learning Artifact #1, and then follow the directions (Steps 1-3) embedded in the Google Slides.
Click the link to the above-right to access Learning Artifact #1, and then follow the directions (Steps 1-3) embedded in the Google Slides.
Learning Artifact #2
The second learning artifact is where we begin a 10-week journey of self-care. I also participate in this activity with you. For some of, this will be our first experience developing a self-care practice; for others, this will be an opportunity to further scaffold an already existing self-care practice. No matter what, we will all gain insights and we will all grow personally and professionally within our self-care practices.
We will each submit a weekly journal entry across 10 weeks (a total of 10 journal entries). In each journal entry we will follow guided prompts intended to share our self-care strategies and reflections with each other. Our journal entries will be password-protected so only myself and the class have access. |
It is important to remember that developing a self-care practice and strengthening your relationship with your self is a journey and a dance ... it is not always easy but invariably worth the rewards. As I've mentioned before, self-reflection is foundational to being an excellent counselor, but much like strength training, it can take time to build muscle memory. This is why we will be practicing this skill over multiple weeks. Developing a sustainable self-care practice will position you to experience long-term resiliency both personally and professionally.