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1: Introduction

  • Page ID
    119760
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    Welcome to Wellness for Helping Professions!

    We are glad you are here! This text is designed to be a starting point for those who want to explore, understand, and improve their personal wellness, with a specific focus on those who work and care for others. The format of the course is centered around trying various self-care activities followed by reflection. Some of these activities may be ones you engage with regularly while others may allow you to step outside your comfort zone. As you engage with each of these self-care practices, it is our hope that you will learn to identify your own sources of stress, build healthier habits that help you thrive, and develop a toolbox of activities that can help ground you as you work with and care for others.

    selfcare.jpg

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Self-care practices are essential to manage stress and keep you grounded as you work with others. (Photo by Jorge Urosa from Pexels.)

    Course Goals

    The course goals (learning outcomes) will be that the student will be able to:

    1. Assess and identify their own wellness needs
    2. Identify different approaches to meet different wellness needs
    3. Create a plan for ongoing responsiveness to assess needs and implement practices for wellness
    4. Create new habits related to wellness
    5. Demonstrate an awareness of ethical, professional, and Christ-like behaviors related to self-care

    Course Recommendations and Structure

    There are some recommendations on how you can gain the most from this course:

    • Be willing to commit to being an active participant in all activities, not just the 'comfortable' ones
    • Set aside 1 hour each week at a consistent time to start a new module and work through and/or complete the activity
    • Outside of the 1-hour class, set aside an additional minimum of 1 hour per week to practice the activity
    • Reflect on your incorporation of that activity, the benefits and barriers to your wellness that week, and how that activity impacted your wellness
    • Consider recruiting others to do this course with you. While this course is about working on your personal wellness, many of the activities are great to do with others. Participating with a partner or a group can also help with accountability to stick to your plan!
    • DO NOT try only the activities that are comfortable or seem interesting. DO try activities that push boundaries and explore new ideas!

    As an introductory, exploratory course utilizing evidence-based activities, you are encouraged to try new activities and explore your own wellness and wellness needs. This course is not intended to be a long-term wellness plan, but rather, it is meant to help you develop habits that can turn into a more permanent approach to wellness. When you are able to identify activities that meet your wellness needs, we encourage you to dig deeper into those practices and expand beyond the introductory level explored in this course.

    Why is this course important to the helping professions?

    People who work in the helping professions are, by definition, helping others. They often have personalities that feed off of giving to others and providing care or education for those in need. However, while giving of themselves, helping professionals may not consider their own needs and are vulnerable to stress, frustration, anxiety, and fatigue. Thus, proper self-care is both a responsibility and a necessity in order to be at one's best (Radlauer-Doerfler & VanDenBerg, 2020).

    To give some practical, evidence-based examples, here are several examples from research in various helping fields:

    Nursing

    In 2013, the American Nursing Association (ANA) launched its HealthyNurse Health Risk Appraisal. From the findings of the report, nearly every indicator showed that the health of American nurses is worse than that of the average American. This includes data showing that American nurses are more likely to be overweight, have higher levels of stress, and get less than the recommended hours of sleep (American Nurses Association, n.d.). Further, hazards such as workplace violence and musculoskeletal injuries also contributed to poorer health.

    Social Work

    Numerous studies have shown evidence that social workers are at risk for higher levels of burnout and stress because of their jobs (Ratcliff, 2024; Schraer, 2015). Larger organizations like the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) have changed their code of ethics (2021) to encourage proactive self-care amongst social workers to improve professional excellence, thereby recognizing the importance of mentally healthy workers.

    Teaching

    Teachers constantly work with students on a daily basis and are at higher risk for burnout which is often manifested physically or psychologically (Nápoles, 2021). A systematic review showed that teacher burnout was associated with headaches, illness, and voice disorders, among other physical factors (Madigan et al., 2023). Psychologically, one study showed that the proportion of teachers reporting psychological distress was twice as high as compared to a general population sample (Biron et al., 2008).

    Personal Training

    Personal and athletic trainers are not immune from experiencing burnout, potentially due to irregular hours and long hours (Oglesby et al., 2020). Moreover, because of the nature of the job of a personal trainer in helping people transform their bodies, personal trainers may experience higher levels of dissatisfaction with their own body and would benefit from exercises in self-compassion (Ebbeck & Austin, 2018).

    Regardless of the helping profession, there is clear research and evidence that both physical and psychological issues can manifest themselves due to the work being done. To be at our optimal selves, it is vitally important that we take care of ourselves first so that we can maximize our impact on others. Our hope is that not only will you recognize your need for intentional self-care, but that you will actively engage in self-care activities to live your best life.


    Reflection

    What brought you to explore this course?
    What has you interested in exploring wellness?


    References

    American Nurses Association. (n.d.) Healthy nurse, healthy nation. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/hnhn/

    Biron, C., Brun, J.-P., & Ivers, H. (2008). Extent and sources of occupational stress in university staff. Work, 30(4), 511-522. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18725713/

    Ebbeck, V., & Austin, S. (2018). Burning off the fat oppression: Self-compassion exercises for personal trainers. Fat Studies, 7(1), 81-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2017.1360670

    Madigan, D. J., Kim, L. E., Glandorf, H. L., & Kavanagh, O. (2023). Teacher burnout and physical health: A systematic review. International Journal of Educational Research, 119, Article 102173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102173

    Nápoles, J. (2021). Burnout: A review of the literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 40(2), 19-26. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123321103766

    National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English

    Oglesby, L. W., Gallucci, A. R., & Wynveen, C. J. (2020). Athletic trainer burnout: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Athletic Training, 55(4), 416-430. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-43-19

    Radlauer-Doerfler, J., & VanDenBerg, J.E. (2020). A practical guide to self-care for helping professionals. Children's Mental Health Network. https://www.cmhnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/New_Practical-Guide-to-Self-Care-for-Wraparound-Professionals-1.pdf

    Ratcliff, M. (2024). Social workers, burnout, and self-care: A public health issue. Delaware Journal of Public Health, 10(1), 26-29. https://doi.org/10.32481/djph.2024.03.05

    Schraer, R. (2015, January 7). Social workers too stressed to do their job according to survey. Community Care. http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/01/07/stress-stopping-job-social-workers-say/


    This page titled 1: Introduction is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Tina Decker, Emily Pacholski, and Trinity Christian College.