Discussion: Self-Care For Active Professionals

In this complex and challenging field, it is easy to take on a workload that is too heavy to allow you to tend to all of your clients’ various needs. This can become daunting for professionals and often results in burnout. By making time for self-care, you can help avoid burnout and ensure resilience. Self-care is an essential responsibility and an important part of your professional life. For this Discussion, as you reflect on self-care strategies, consider how you might use them in your role as a human services professional.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 4

Post an explanation of at least two strategies that you, as a human services professional actively involved in contemporary issues, may use to plan for your own self-care. Include specific examples of how you might implement these strategies.

Reid Mandell, B., & Schram, B. (2012). An introduction to human services: Policy and practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

· Chapter 15, “Staying Current and Avoiding Burnout” (pp. 539–574)

Grant, J., & Francis, K. (2008). Closed doors and culture wars: Contemporary challenges for human services delivery in rural and regional Australia. Rural Social Work & Community Practice, 13(1), 46–54.Although there are clear limitations to the model, it st~Ll remains intu- itively appealing for its direct implications. For instance, it seems likely that the performance of athletes depends in part on the intensity of flow experi- enced. While there is much anecdotal and qualitative evidence supporting this conjecture (e.g., Ravizza, 1984), empirical evidence is rare (Jackson & C~ikszentmihal~i, 1999). Quantitative research has lagged behind experien- tial awareness of flow given the inherent difficulties of applying empirical methods to phenomenological experience. Recently, however, Jackson and Marsh (1996) developed a psychometrically valid and usable scale for assess- ing flow in sport and physical activity. Specifically, the Flow State Scale pro- vides a global quantitative measure of the flow experience or single quantita- tive measures of nine distinct components of flow.