Walk-In Counseling Center The practice of psychology can be demanding, challenging, and emotionally taxing. Failure to adequately attend to one's own psychological wellness and self-care can place the psychologist at risk for impaired professional functioning. An ongoing focus on self-care is essential for the prevention of burnout and for maintaining one's own psychological wellness. Salient aspects of self-care are discussed, including the ethical imperative of addressing self-care throughout one's career. Three invited expert commentaries provide additional insights and recommendations on positive actions, preventive strategies, and steps to be taken by individual psychologists, by those training the next generation of psychologists, and by professional associations. Realities of the current state of psychology and a clear call for action are highlighted, with the overarching goal being the ethical and effective treatment of clients and the successful management of the challenges and stresses faced by practicing psychologists.

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The life of the psychotherapist expresses a unique interplay between "becoming" and "being," as the practitioner commits himself or herself to the lifelong task of personal growth and the ongoing development of self and others. This striving for actualization reflects both a sense of duty and an inner passion, a calling and destiny. (Guy, 1987, p. 293) fine, but critical, line exists between our personal and professional selves. That our personal life serves as the undergirding and infrastructure of our professional self is a fundamental assumption in advocating therapist self-care. Therefore, we must strive to understand the different aspects of and influences on our self as well as to continue developing self-awareness.Consciously becoming self-aware enables us to evolve from an unconscious, externally dependent, reactive mode to a more "mindful" means of caring for our physical, psychological, and spiritual being. By nurturing our self, we can then genuinely care about, and share with, others. This chapter guides therapists in examining aspects of our self, the influences of our formative and ongoing life experiences, and our motivations to become a therapist. A therapist self-care questionnaire is found in the appendix at the end of this chapter. Responding to this questionnaire and completing the journaling exercises in this chapter will offer you an opportunity to reflect on your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to therapist self-care.

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