A social work career can be challenging and rewarding. With all the joys of social work and the opportunities to help people succeed, social workers are often responsible for providing assistance during the most difficult events in a person’s life.
By practicing self-care, social workers can build the knowledge and skills to handle the challenges of their career, helping them avoid workplace burnout, compassion fatigue, and increased anxiety and stress.
As part of their practice, social workers may counsel their clients on various forms of self-care but may often ignore their own needs, neglecting habits that can help them maintain their physical and mental health. By taking the time to invest in practices that promote self-care for social workers early in a career — or even as students in an online master’s in social work program — graduates are able to maintain a healthier work-life balance and prepare themselves for a healthy and lasting career.
What Is Self-Care?
Simply put, self-care is taking time for things that promote or improve our mental, physical, and emotional health. Consciously putting effort into practices or actions that have a positive effect on our well-being can lead to beneficial long-term outcomes, giving people the tools to deal with mental health issues including anxiety or depression and the stresses of our incredibly busy world.
Self-care activities vary from one person to the next, depending on the individual’s interests or hobbies, and can range from physical activity to meditation, cooking, art, music, and getting adequate sleep. Self-care is investing in practices that reduce stress and promote overall health.
In the social work community, issues such as compassion fatigue and burnout are common and, if not addressed, can have negative repercussions. Social work requires empathy and compassion. Many social workers find themselves assisting clients through some of the most difficult times in their lives, work that while fulfilling can also be draining and take a toll on professionals in the long term.
The importance of self-care in social work cannot be overstated, as it can greatly impact the lives of social workers and their clients, influencing whether professionals have the mental and emotional capacity to provide adequate care. Earning an advanced degree that provides social workers with the knowledge and skills they need to cope with their own burnout can enable them to better assist their clients and pass along self-care skills that can help individuals reach their personal and professional goals.
Importance of Self-Care in Social Work
The key to a social worker’s long-term sustainability in the profession lies in finding self-care techniques that work for them and developing these techniques into a regular practice. Not practicing self-care can have negative consequences for social work practitioners and those they serve. In other words, self-care for social workers is crucial.
An article by Alexandrya Blackmon and Terricka Hardy for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) blog says that burnout is a professional impairment, and “can be detrimental for social workers, clients, and the entire social work profession” and can be “an ethical pitfall for social workers.”
Additionally, Blackmon and Hardy explain, “When delivering compassionate, competent, and ethical social work practice, engaging in professional self-care is an essential component. Exposure to stories of traumatic experiences, stressful workplace climates, having concerns for safety, and the increase in practice demands makes practicing self-care not just an idea but a professional and ethical obligation for social workers.”
In many cases, social workers struggling with burnout or compassion fatigue have difficulty cultivating the energy and capacity required to approach cases and clients with empathy. Without empathy and compassion, social workers are unable to provide clients with adequate care, a deficiency that can have lasting negative repercussions for the client and practitioner.
Making self-care a priority can be instrumental in improving client outcomes and the mental, physical, and emotional health of social workers.
Self-Care Strategies for Social Workers
A variety of activities can help social workers reduce stress, maintain and enhance their short- and long-term health, and focus on their well-being. Verywell Mind suggests several ways to practice self-care, including:
- Mental and Spiritual Self-Care: A change in perspective is a simple way to have a positive impact on one’s outlook and the world. Practicing techniques that include journaling, talking with others, or just making mental notes can foster a deeper sense of meaning and create routines that improve overall life satisfaction.
- Physical Self-Care: Physical exercise is as much about the mind as the body. Sunlight is a known mood-booster that helps people feel calmer and more focused. Fresh air can clear the mind, while yoga or tai chi can help with mental focus as well as flexibility and balance. Additionally, getting adequate sleep has been proven to be instrumental in maintaining performance and mental and physical health, affecting mood, focus, and hormone levels.
- Social Self-Care: Connecting with friends and others we care about is essential to our health and well-being. By taking the time from our busy schedules to invest in a social life — enjoyable activities, friendships, and relationships — we can foster a sense of fulfillment and contentment in our lives.
Mindfulness, or the practice of paying attention to what we are experiencing, can be particularly helpful for social workers, according to The New Social Worker. Mindfulness “is a conscious effort to be with whatever is going on right now, without judging or criticizing what we find,” the online social work career magazine notes. “In each moment, mindfulness invites us to be awake, aware and accepting of ourselves. It also allows us to slow down the hectic pace we often keep and to attend to our lives more fully.”
Mindfulness techniques include awareness of breathing, body awareness, single-focus tasking, and attention to what the article calls “the small wonders of life,” such as the way the sun hits the trees or the sound of nearby laughter.
“Take a moment to find them in your world,” the article suggests. “When you do, pause to honor what you have observed, and let yourself become aware of whatever feelings surface within. If you take the time to let the small wonders of life into your daily routine, you may find yourself better able to deal with the stressors you face along the way.”
Self-care for social workers is vital. Social workers who find ways to look after their own health and well-being may be less susceptible to stress and burnout and better able to provide care to clients.
Make a Positive Impact in Social Work
As members of a healing profession, social workers play an essential role in helping clients through traumatic events, challenges, and life transitions. Social work can be fulfilling and incredibly draining to practitioners, requiring them to invest in themselves as well as in their clients. Self-care strategies for social workers support their ability to perform their jobs with empathy and compassion, allowing them to find sustainable success and provide the highest level of care.
Ohio University’s online Master of Social Work degree program can prepare graduates for a range of positions in social work. In their efforts to help vulnerable populations handle life’s challenges, social workers may be involved in marriage and family therapy, foster care counseling, crisis counseling, or human resources. No matter what their field is, they may advise their clients on self-care strategies and techniques.
With 100% online coursework, the program is accessible for working professionals who want to pursue their degrees while maintaining their work and family responsibilities. The curriculum was designed by experienced professionals to help you succeed. Discover how you can make a difference with a degree in social work.
Recommended Reading
4 Types of Therapist Roles to Pursue with an MSW
Social Work vs. Sociology: Which Field Is Right for You?
What Do School Social Workers Do?
Sources:
Everyday Health, “What Is Self-Care and Why Is It So Important for Your Health?”
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Predictors of Burnout in Social Workers: The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Scenario for Analysis”
National Association of Social Workers, “The Art of Self-Care for Social Workers”
The New Social Worker, “Mindfulness: 10 Lessons in Self-Care for Social Workers”
Positive Psychology, “Preventing Social Work Burnout: 37 Helpful Therapeutic Activities”
Verywell Mind, “5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life”