Self-Care Strategies
Self-care is a widely acknowledged aspect of Counseling. Through research, studies and hard-earned self-knowledge, experts have defined personal attributes, strategies such as mentoring, and qualities that can lead to development of the therapeutic self. Due to differing experiences and results, experts may differently name those attributes, strategies and qualities but all are focused on taking care of the self as the counselor takes care of his/her clients and other people in his/her personal and professional life.
Which attributes of the self-care do you think are most important to success in the counseling relationship?
The most effective approach to self-care involves understanding the "Five Areas of Wellness" discussed by Dr. Eugenia Curet in Mental Health and Self-Care for Counselors, and ensuring that each of those areas is satisfied with one or more specific activities. The "Five Areas" are: Cognitive; Emotional; Physical; Spiritual and Social (Curet, 2010). The Cognitive area can be satisfied by non-counseling-related activities such as journaling, hobbies, pleasurable reading, meditation, volunteering and attending the theater. The Emotional area can be satisfied by allowing one's own emotional freedom by laughing and crying, talking with friends, having supportive discussions with colleagues and seeing a counselor. The Physical area can be satisfied by eating healthy meals, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep. The Spiritual area can be satisfied by reflection/meditation, gardening and other outdoor activities and connecting to a spiritual community of some kind. The Social area can be satisfied by work-related mentoring and non-work-related positive relationships (Curet, 2010).
Discuss the concept of supervision/mentoring as applied to personal theory development. Do you agree that this is a necessary step? Why or why not?
A "mentor," who is usually an older, more experienced person working in the "mentee's" chosen field, can: coach the mentee regarding the mentee's personal life and work; help the mentee establish and maintain one or more professional networks; assist the mentee with new opportunities for training and publication; help the mentee with his/her professional presentations and research; otherwise support the mentee as needed (Dittmann, 2005). In fact, the mentoring relationship is potentially so valuable that experts recommend establishing a mentorship while the mentee is still in school so the mentee can begin benefiting from the relationship during his/her education, then transition into his/her professional life (Dittmann, 2005).
Several steps are recommended for establishing a rewarding mentorship and the initial steps are often conducted by the mentee. First, the mentee should find a potential mentor who would be a "good match" for the mentee. This "good match" is often a person who is already accomplished in a professional area to which the mentee aspires. Experts recommend reviewing resumes of faculty members at the mentee's school or of local practicing counselors. The "good match" may also consist of "personality traits, values, interests, working styles and amount of time they devote to proteges" that would be compatible with the mentee (Dittmann, 2005). As experts point out, the "good match" is not necessarily a perfect match of career area, traits, values, interests and working styles; rather, the "good match" is one built on mutual respect for skills and values (Dittmann, 2005). The second step in establishing a valuable mentorship is initiation of the relationship. It appears that the mentee bears most of the burden for initiating the relationship by, for example: requesting an appointment with the potential mentor; explaining his/her personal and professional goals to the potential mentor; explaining the mentee's need for guidance; asking questions of the potential mentor about his/her successes; asking whether the potential mentor is willing to provide one or more types of support needed by the mentee (Dittmann, 2005). If the potential mentor agrees to the mentoring relationship, the mentor and mentee then take the third step, which consists of setting expectations for their relationship. In this step, the mentor and mentee reach a mutual agreement on: the short-term and long-term goals of the relationship; the mentorship's duration; meeting times and frequency; other forms and times of acceptable contact; any potential concerns. Some mentors and mentees even draw up formal written and signed instruments containing their entire understanding of the relationship (Dittmann, 2005). The fourth step in the mentoring relationship consists of periodic re-evaluation of the relationship to see whether it should be altered due to such factors as: the mentee's graduation from school; assessing whether goals are being met and whether they should be changed; whether any concerns have arisen in the relationship that should be addressed. The results may be relationship alterations ranging from minor to significant. Ideally, the mentoring relationship is able to continue, and as the mentee gains in skills and experience, the relationship can be transformed into one...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now