I have been working in the mental health field since 2010, and during that time the topic of wellness has come up frequently in a number of situations. In my professional advisory roles as an instructor, supervisor, trainer, consultant, therapist and manager, I have noticed a growing need for wellness practices. And as I learned more about the effects of stress on the brain, I better understood the need for all professional counselors with strong wellness practices.
Consultant Wellness is essential to deliver quality services to our customers. I have been able to observe consultants with strong self-care practices, well-balancing boundaries, and maintaining strong professional support relationships with their clients. I've also seen the other end of the spectrum where therapy progression is hindered due to counseling issues like burnout, compassionate fatigue, vicarious trauma, and over-commitment to myriad tasks.
The dynamics of well-being
Wellness and burnout are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they tend to work on a continuum. Rather than viewing consultants as “burned out” or “not burned out”, we should understand that many consultants commute between different levels of wellness and burnout. It is common for many professional counselors to switch back and forth between different stages of wellness and burnout. A particular therapist may have symptoms of burnout for one period of time, but they are fine and maintain strong self-care practices during another period. Because of the dynamics of wellbeing, counselors often have to revisit this issue.
The subject of self-care has become a hot topic in the last ten years. From articles and books to promoting self-care to ways to combat burnout, the professional help areas have been inundated with information on burnout, compassionate fatigue, vicarious trauma, and related topics. Even if these topics are discussed more openly in graduate schools and in various supervisory settings, many counselors could benefit from practical strategies for improving overall mental health and well-being.
One way to provide such information is through a practical model. Some of the models featured in recent advisory articles address self-care components. However, models could contain holistic self-care components that are incorporated into larger wellness frameworks as a growth area. Many clinicians verbalize a number of variables that prevent effective self-care practices. Based on this, I conducted qualitative research to identify issues related to what stands in the way of wellbeing. From interviews with counselors at the master’s level, I have learned the importance of adding a number of factors that contribute to or lack of self-sufficiency to wellness models.
A proposed wellness model
From this research in 2019, I and my colleague Steve Zanskas developed a three-step model for self-sufficiency, which identifies levels of responsibility aimed at finding an integrative way of increasing the effectiveness of wellness activities. This model looks at wellness accountability while taking individual, regulatory and organizational responsibility into account. This reflects the feedback given during interviews with 77 counselors discussing what helps and what hinders their self-sufficiency.
This model also offers practical approaches to raising awareness of the areas of self-care that affect well-being. The model was named Paths to Wellness, based on the idea that wellness activities are similar to a journey with many roads leading to the same destination. By viewing wellness as a journey, we can recognize the individuality of self-care and the levels of well-being that can help cushion negative occupational hazards.
Wellness area: Individual level of responsibility
Practical wellness check-in:
How do I feel charged?
What emphasizes me?
Where do I feel stress in my body?
Which recharging activities do I have to carry out if certain stress factors occur?
Do I have a balance between self-care activities in different areas (physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, social, etc.)?
What can I do to improve the balance between my self-care areas?
Do my values as a person match my work?
Does my job give me an overall feeling of satisfaction?
Which occupational factors increase or decrease my general well-being?
What changes can I make to become present and peaceful?
What resources and support do I need to make these changes?
Do I have regular check-ins in order to reflect on my wellness plans and to make any necessary adjustments?
Wellness area: supervisory level of responsibility
Practical wellness check-in:
Does my superior practice self-care and model general well-being?
Does my supervisor discuss self-sufficiency and check my overall well-being?
Does my superior respect my individual self-care needs and does he support my self-care efforts?
Does my manager support the use of vacation, illness and other paid time off?
Does my supervisor provide cover for leisure time?
Does my supervisor offer a positive work environment?
Does my supervisor facilitate teamwork and a positive team culture?
Does my manager support mental health time off?
Wellness area: organizational level of responsibility
Practical wellness check-in:
Does my organization offer paid time off for vacations or hobbies?
Does my company make resources available to employees for growth and development?
Does my company promote a positive work culture?
Does my company receive and use employee feedback on a regular basis?
Do managers communicate openly and honestly with employees?
Is my company interested in me as an individual?
Does my company promote work-life balance?
Does my company offer wellness activities (reimbursement for the gym, health insurance, paid sick leave, employee benefit programs)?
Does my company have policies and processes that are specifically designed to promote wellbeing?
Model use
The Paths to Wellness model can be used by physicians, supervisors, advisory trainers, and organizational leaders across advisory roles and functions. The advantages of this model include its use as an assessment and evaluation tool as well as a resource for reflection on the further development of well-being.
Counselors can use this model as a tool for assessing their own well-being, informing them of weak and strong areas related to self-sufficiency. Consistent with this, this framework can enable professionals to strategically weigh the pros and cons of their choices for their overall wellbeing in order to make the best decisions for their own self-sufficiency at that time.
In the professional field, consultants could use this assessment tool if they are asked to consider a new position or additional role opportunities, or if they are considering a transfer to another employer. New professionals could use it to decide where to start their work. The tool can help counselors evaluate how a potential new role or task may affect their self-care and wellness activities in individual, regulatory and organizational areas. Such reviews can provide a framework for counselors to make decisions that are consistent with their wellness goals.
Managers can use this tool both on an individual level for themselves and on a supervisory level. The oversight level aims to assess the current level of wellness modeling and advancement that they are offering their supervisors. The counseling profession regularly promotes monitoring and counseling as a positive way to cushion negative effects on the client related to burnout and a counselor's lack of general wellbeing. The level at which the supervisor assesses and positively considers self-care and wellbeing needs can significantly affect the benefits of regular supervision.
For supervisors within agencies, this model can help increase employee satisfaction by better understanding and addressing the individual differences that occur within staff groups. This promotes an approach where all employees get what they need to support their wellbeing, rather than using an “equality standpoint” that provides equal resources to all employees regardless of individual needs.
Organization leaders can use this model as a screening tool to assess the potential wellness impact associated with each agency's policies, processes, and practices. Managers can then advocate specific guidelines that better promote employee wellbeing.
Ideally, policies and procedures would be designed based on feedback obtained directly from staff at the agency. Regular check-ins with employees and program evaluations to get specific answers can offer managers prospects for employees. These perspectives can then be used to update and revise wellness-related activities. In addition, leaders can model wellness activities to incorporate a wellness focus into the structure of their organizations. This can include leaders showing that it's really okay to take breaks, set boundaries, and maintain healthy habits.
Wellness gains are possible through the cooperation of the agency, employees and supervisory authorities. The integration across these areas is crucial for the successful implementation of self-care activities. Because of the dynamics and complexity of the roles and requirements of consultants, wellness efforts and areas of need should be assessed frequently. The Paths to Wellness model serves as an approach that can facilitate the promotion and integration of wellness. In addition, the model can be added to current wellness strategies or used in conjunction with other self-care assessments.
Wellness cultures are developed with awareness and responsibility on an individual and systemic level. These cultures then begin to thrive as wellness is intentionally incorporated into daily practices. This can lead to a ripple effect, whereby the consulting profession serves as a model for wellness integration in other organizations .
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Rebekah Lemmons strives to improve outcomes for children, emerging adults, and families. For the past decade, her practice and research has been primarily in the non-profit sector, with an emphasis on conducting program evaluations, teaching, running services, counseling and monitoring clinicians. Contact them at [email protected].
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