Aligning career services with the needs of students with learning disabilities
July 13, 2021Career development for those who experience persistent and severe mental illness
July 13, 2021By Lydie Masengo
“If you don’t take time for your wellness, you will be forced to take time for your illness.” – Joyce Sunada
It has been a year since our world has been changed since the onset of the pandemic, which has negatively affected many people’s mental health. Working as a crisis line responder and research assistant, I have been exposed to many people’s mental health concerns as they report dealing with isolation, loneliness, losses and despair. Consequently, there has been a significant increase in the number of people seeking therapy, which resulted in significant work pressure experienced by mental health practitioners, putting them at a higher risk of burnout (Joshi & Sharma, 2020).
They experience “a great deal of emotional stress, and failure to cope successfully with such stress can result in the emotional exhaustion syndrome of burnout” (Maslach, 1978, p. 11). This, in turn, can interfere with their ability to use their counselling skills effectively, leading them to become a potential threat to current and future clients (Lawson et al., 2007). Socio-economic implications to society include triggering presenteeism and absenteeism, resulting in a loss of productivity while counselling (Gosselin et al., 2013). This is economically costly due to an increase in additional expenses in sickness benefits along with the risk of future disability pension (Ahola et al., 2009; Borritz et al., 2006).
These negative effects can act as a hindrance in mental health practitioners’ career development, which is defined as a process of evolving one’s occupational status through exploration, self-knowledge and decision making, and aligning oneself with one’s career advancement opportunities (McKay, 2020). This emphasizes the importance of self-care for this demographic of professionals, who are facing in high demand today given the stresses and distresses of the pandemic.
Engaging in self-care behaviours is not usually what comes to mind when thinking about career development, but in fact, self-care is an ethical imperative requirement for the counselling profession: “Engage in self-care activities that help to avoid conditions (e.g., burnout) that could result in impaired judgment and interfere with their ability to benefit and not harm others” (Canadian Psychological Association, 2017, p. 20). Self-care behaviours are crucial to prevent burnout (Barnet et al., 2007). For example, the experience of burnout decreases counsellors’ empathy and communication with their clients (Montero-Marin et al., 2016). If unresolved, this could lead to dangerous behaviours such as dual relationships and fiscal improprieties (Gabbard, 1991; Schoener, 1995).
During the coronavirus pandemic, counsellors reported not engaging in adequate self-care while at work, resulting in higher than usual employee turnover (Buckner, 2020). As self-care serves as a protective factor to feeling emotionally exhausted and depleted (Farber & Heifetz, 1981; Rupert & Kent, 2007), it is imperative for mental health practitioners to remember to take care of themselves first. Early prevention and intervention of burnout are essential for mental health practitioners to provide high-quality care to clients and reduce unnecessary economic costs to society, which is already struggling. As mental health practitioners use themselves as vessels to support other people’s mental health needs, I hope that this article serves as a reminder that you cannot experience growth in your career while pouring from an empty cup. I urge you to take care of yourself.
Lydie Masengo is an MA Ed in Counselling Psychology candidate at the University of Ottawa. Her master’s thesis explores distress, burnout and self-care strategies. She will be completing her counselling internship as a psychotherapist-in-training at Carleton University’s From Intention To Action program, which supports clients with different presenting issues including academic, career and personal life stressors.
References
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