Being somewhat new in the world of Social Work Professionals, maybe someone can clue me in as to how recent a trend self-care is. When did it begin to take hold? Has it taken hold? How widespread is it? What percentage of agencies / organizations are buying in? If it’s a small number, then what’s the tipping point where Professionals begin to ask questions about self care policy during the interview process causing lackadaisical agencies to miss out on quality talent?
The self care conversation at the organizational level HAS to become culture. It cannot be just the individual’s responsibility, but a shared obligation between Social Work Professionals and their organizations. If agencies truly care about their clients, want to attract and maintain top performers, then they must promote well-being in an effort to mitigate burnout, secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue.
Social Work Professionals come face to face with unique stressors due to their constant exposure to trauma, human suffering, and systemic issues like poverty and declining mental health of the general population. Research supports that between 25% and 75% of Social Work Professionals experience burnout, and up to 50% develop symptoms of secondary traumatic stress. These mental health challenges lead to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, detachment and feelings of ineffectiveness. Without proper heartfelt interventions and support from their employing agencies, the resulting fatigue and apathy will have detrimental effects not only on the workers, but also on the quality of care they provide to clients. When workers and clients begin to suffer, so follows the agency as a whole. Lack of positive outcomes coupled with expensive worker turnover/churn will ultimately end the agency. These cumulative effects highlight the urgency of systemic solutions that go beyond individual self-care strategies. There’s no room for any other outcome.
As with any culture in an organization, an effective self-care culture begins at the top. Agency leaders have to recognize the very real possibility of burnout and secondary traumatic stress among their caseworkers. For example, organizations need to ensure that Social Work Professionals have reasonable workloads and are not expected to perform uncompensated overtime. Leaders must foster environments where taking breaks and using PTO is encouraged and supported. Sometimes we may not feel comfortable taking time off because of a perceived lack of coverage. Leaders have to ensure that employees feel confident their responsibilities will be managed in their absence. Providing coverage for workers while they are on leave is a critical step toward creating a culture where self-care is respected, rather than seen as a burden. And it’s not just the time they’re away. Coming back to work greeted with an avalanche of emails is enough to dissuade anyone from enjoying their time away. There needs to be a system in place for people to come back and not immediately be overwhelmed.
In addition to a positive outlook on PTO, social work agencies can implement activities which create an environment of positive emotional and mental well-being while at work. Employee events that focus on arts, crafts, music, or other mindful activities will help integrate a culture of self-care. Activities that offer opportunities for Social Work Professionals to engage in creative outlets and allow them to disconnect from the emotional intensity the experience every day.
We obviously haven’t reached critical mass, so as self-care culture becomes more widely implemented into the world of Social Work, the responsibility for promoting it must shift from individuals to institutions. Informed and ethical organizations must begin to research and implement practices which promote a healthy work-life balance, prevent burnout, reduce secondary traumatic stress and help to avoid compassion fatigue. By fostering supportive environments, organizations will improve the well-being of their staff and also ensure that clients receive the highest quality of care possible. The shift would further signal and build on the positive trend toward more sustainable work practices in social work. It would create the opportunity for Social Work Professionals to thrive and in turn build better agencies. It’s a win, win, win. Self-care is not selfish.
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