Plus, some work environments make it difficult for therapists to engage in self-care because of unusual or long work hours, large caseloads and little or no support. Trying to change that work environment, even if for the better, can move counselors out of their comfort zones.
Yet, when we pay attention to and nourish our own needs, it is far easier to be mindfully present with those we love. How can counselors infuse what they know into their day-to-day lives?
We have to make a choice, take ownership of it and then act on it. Having a supportive environment can help immensely in improving counselor wellness, says Lawson, who recommends that counselors talk with colleagues about their personal needs and struggles and solicit support for the changes they are trying to make.
At Virginia Tech, Lawson came up with a rule to support wellness and life balance: No shop talk over meals. Venart concurs that peers can make all the difference. A foundation for wellness should be built before counselors even enter into their professional lives, Lawson says. To help establish this mind-set, Lawson encourages his students to change their clothes after they return home from their internships at the end of each day.
The ritual becomes a habit and, over time, that habit becomes part of maintaining your own wellness. Kooyman, who teaches school and community counselors, often asks his students to make a list of activities they enjoy doing and then to be deliberate about incorporating enough of those activities into their daily lives.
Burns also brings up wellness with her students, asking them how they give attention to the many facets of their lives. Creating a supportive atmosphere for counselor wellness in graduate school is crucial, she says. As a whole, counselor education programs must do more to promote and teach counselor wellness strategies, Venart says.
I have a friend currently enrolled in a holistic nursing program where practitioner wellness has been integrated into every aspect of their training. The importance of self-care is overtly discussed and modeled by faculty, and the curriculum of each course includes an emphasis on self-assessment and reflection as well as the development and implementation of concrete wellness plans and practices.
Venart reminds students and professionals alike that although self-care can appear large and looming at times, the process begins with just one step. Sometimes the smallest changes can make the biggest impact. Never underestimate the power of a restful eight hours of sleep, exercise and good nutrition throughout the day. Lunch with a friend can lift our spirits, and taking a Sunday off to rest and play can help us recharge for the week.
Letters to the editor: ct counseling. Burnout, vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue and impairment are terms often mentioned when discussing counselor wellness and self-care.
But what distinguishes one from the other? Counseling Today asked counselor wellness experts to weigh in. Elizabeth Venart says burnout often arises from an accumulation of work-related stress, resulting in feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. Vicarious traumatization : The symptoms of vicarious traumatization, or secondary traumatic stress, are much the same as those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder, Sandra Rankin says.
Counselors can acquire vicarious traumatization in as little as one interaction when they are affected by the trauma they hear about through clients, Lawson says. When counselors are isolated, whether working in rural areas or working as sole private practitioners, maintaining wellness can pose an even bigger challenge.
Without other colleagues to learn from, vent with or lean on for support, stress is more likely to build unimpeded. Experts say finding a support system, whether through formal supervision or an informal network of other professionals to meet with for consultation and camaraderie, is vital.
Technology can also help bridge the gap. Adds Elizabeth Venart, a private practitioner in Ambler, Pa. Join interest networks electronic mailing lists through ACA where you can connect with counselors in other geographical areas who share your professional interests. Counselors also recommend checking out local, state, regional and national associations for networking possibilities and attending professional conferences to meet other helping professionals.
Leslie Kooyman, an assistant professor at Montclair State University, says counselors also might want to consider consulting. Through this process, I realized that the value of this vital learning experience is not necessarily recognized across the field, so I am petitioning here for what should be the central place of personal therapy in counselor education. Some of the reasons I present for personal therapy echo classic arguments put forth since the early days of analytic training.
Incidentally, all the reasons I present make it clear that personal therapy benefits not only beginner counselors but also all other mental health practitioners regardless of their years of experience.
As counselors, we ask much of our clients in the process of therapy. We entreat them to sit with a stranger and, over time, reveal themselves, explore difficult emotions, strive for self-awareness and work to transfer what they have learned to their lives outside the consulting room. This is a demanding, courageous act. How can beginner counselors understand what they are asking of clients unless these counselors have undergone their own therapy? No other aspect of counselor education provides this firsthand knowledge of the client experience: the frustrations, the successes, the challenges.
Counselors who have participated in their own personal therapy will have greater empathy for their clients because they have been there. Even if a counselor feels mentally well-balanced, through personal therapy he or she will still learn what it feels like to sit across from a counselor and to be understood or, just as valuable, to be misunderstood by a counselor.
By becoming clients themselves, beginner counselors gain an inner steadiness that increases their ability to help others. It will also become less of a challenge to tolerate the inevitable uncertainty and ambiguity of clinical work.
In the face of clinical uncertainty or client pressure, such a counselor is less likely to hastily intervene or diagnose in an unconscious attempt to run away from his or her discomfort, thus leaving space for the potential of true therapeutic progress.
All the clinicians I interviewed said allowing themselves to remain in uncertainty forestalled premature action on their part and allowed unforeseen possibilities to arise. Personal therapy helps new counselors learn patience and calmness in the unpredictable waters of clinical work. A part of competency is having the awareness of your skillset and admitting that you may not be qualified to work with certain client issues or populations.
This does not make you less of a counselor. It is impossible for counselors to know about all topics in psychology. Some of your clients may benefit from having other supportive services in addition to the therapy you offer.
When you refer a client for additional services, obtain a release of information between yourself and the other provider to effectively coordinate care. If you determine you do not have the appropriate training or experience to work with a certain client issue, your client would need to be transferred to another therapist.
Various ethical codes from the American Counseling Association outline professional competence and also highlight the importance of maintaining competency throughout the professional career of the psychotherapist. Whereas multicultural counseling competency is required across all counseling specialties, counselors gain knowledge, personal awareness, sensitivity, dispositions, and skills pertinent to being a culturally competent counselor in working with a diverse client population.
While developing skills in new specialty areas, counselors take steps to ensure the competence of their work and protect others from possible harm.
Counselors hire for professional counseling positions only individuals who are qualified and competent for those positions. Counselors take reasonable steps to seek peer supervision to evaluate their efficacy as counselors. Counselors maintain their competence in the skills they use, are open to new procedures and remain informed regarding best practices for working with diverse populations.
Clients often subconsciously transfer feelings towards someone in their past, onto the therapist. It is important for the therapist to maintain proper boundaries and self-awareness to recognize this common phenomenon. Often, client transference originates from their unresolved family issues and cultural upbringing.
One way to increase your self-awareness is through education. Research what types of reactions clients have with certain diagnoses. This way you will be more prepared in session when you encounter them. Rather than avoiding transference, which arises naturally, the counselor can utilize these feelings within themselves to direct and inform the work with the client.
Any transference can help your client gain awareness of their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. When transference happens, your job as the counselor is to not get caught up or attached to what is happening. Your own self-awareness can help act as a mirror, reflecting back to the client his or her emotions.
It is best to have a curious attitude rather than a judgmental one when working with clients. Remember that we all have preconceptions that can interfere with seeing each other clearly.
Counselors and clients are going to be affected by one another. Counselors can encounter doubts with their career choice as a counseling student, early in their careers, and even after many years of practice. Self-awareness can serve the counselor not only clinically but also personally. Accessing this inner knowledge helps you connect with the reasons why you wanted to be a counselor in the first place.
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