The Self-Care Shift: Applying the Transtheoretical Model to Social Work Wellness

Part 3: Maintenance & Resilience—Sustaining Our Self-Care Practice and Navigating Relapse

In Parts 1 and 2 we explored how we, as Social Work Professionals, can apply the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) to our self-care practices. We began with Precontemplation and Contemplation, where our awareness of the need for change takes shape. We then looked into Preparation and Action, where new habits begin to germinate.

But what now? How do we protect the hard earned gains we’ve made when life and work get complicated? Because they will. The final stage of the TTM, Maintenance, is about keeping our self-care alive for the long haul. It also recognizes that relapse is part of the journey, not a failure.

Maintenance: Making Self-Care a Lifestyle

The Maintenance stage is where self-care becomes integrated into your identity and daily rhythm. Habitual. For social workers, this doesn’t mean achieving perfection, it means building sustainable practices that support us across SAMHSA’s 8 Dimensions of Wellness:

• Physical: Prioritizing sleep, nutrition, and movement that give you energy for the day.

• Emotional: Practicing mindfulness or therapy to manage the stress of holding others’ pain.

• Social: Maintaining healthy boundaries with clients and nurturing supportive personal relationships.

• Spiritual: Connecting to practices—faith, nature, reflection—that anchor meaning.

• Occupational: Advocating for manageable caseloads and using supervision to process challenges.

• Intellectual: Continuing professional development while balancing growth and rest.

• Environmental: Creating work and home spaces that reduce stress and promote calm.

• Financial: Practicing mindful budgeting to reduce the financial stress which compounds work stress.

Consistency is key. Maintenance habits are not glamorous. But quietly committing to repeat what works day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year leads to stacking win after win. Seemingly effortlessly when we look back. We don’t even have to think about making the right decision any longer. It just becomes what we do.

Practical Step: Choose one dimension of wellness and identify a keystone practice that anchors your routine. For example, committing to a daily walk supports physical, emotional, and even spiritual wellness. Do this for a month and track your results.

Relapse: Reframing Setbacks as Growth

Relapse is a normal part of the change cycle. In the context of self-care, relapse might look like:

• Poor food choices during a particularly busy week.

• Letting go of boundaries and taking on too many clients.

• Abandoning mindfulness practices when stress peaks.

The danger isn’t relapse itself, but the shame and guilt that often follow. Here, Brené Brown’s reminder is powerful:

“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”

Or Evil Caddie from June of 2023

Self-compassion allows us to treat relapse as feedback, not failure. Dr. Aziz Gazipura also reinforces this truth in Not Nice:

“You do not need to be perfect to be worthy of love or respect.”

Tin Cup reminds us that “Perfection is unattainable.”

Practical Step: When you notice yourself slipping, pause and reflect:

1. What led to the relapse? (e.g., workload, fatigue, lack of support)

2. What can I learn from this experience?

3. What’s the next small step I can take to return to self-care and regain momentum?

Resilience Through Cycles

The brilliance of the Transtheoretical Model is that change is cyclical. We move forward, we circle back, we recommit. This mirrors the reality of social work, where our challenges naturally ebb and flow. The goal isn’t to avoid relapse forever, it’s to build resilience so that when it DOES happen, we recover faster and come out the other side with more clarity and self understanding.

When we practice Maintenance with compassion and view Relapse as part of the process, Social Work Professionals create a sustainable foundation for wellness for ourselves. This strengthens our individual resilience and enhances our ability to serve clients with presence, empathy, and effectiveness.

Closing the Series

Self-care isn’t a single decision, it’s a lifelong practice of cycling through awareness, preparation, action, and recommitment. By applying the Transtheoretical Model to our own wellness, we remind ourselves that growth is never linear, and always possible.

As Helping Professionals, our capacity to care for others begins with how we care for ourselves. And the more we embrace the rhythm of change with honesty, patience, and compassion, the more resilient we become.