Professional Psychology Research and Practice · 2011 · 118 citations · 15 references
School CounselingEmpathyEducationMental Health InterventionMental HealthSelf-care InterventionPsychologySocial SciencesClinical PsychologyTherapeutic RelationshipMental Health CounselingCounselor Self-careCounselors Practice Self-compassionNarrative InquiryCompassion FatigueIndividual TherapyMindfulnessNursingCounselor SupervisionCounselor Education PedagogyCounselor EducationProfessional CounselingBurnout PreventionProfessional Counseling OrientationGroup Counseling
As counselors we often offer compassion to our clients and support them in cultivating it for themselves; however, this aspect of counselor development may be absent in our own self-care practices. How do counselors cultivate self-compassion given the myriad of challenges that arise in their practice? Although there is a wealth of research on counselor self-care, very little of this research addresses the construct of self-compassion as a means of enhancing counselors’ well-being and mitigating the effects of job-related stress. A narrative research design was used to investigate how 15 experienced counselors practice self-compassion in counseling. Themes that emerged in this study, based on the experiences of the participants, provide important information for training and educating practitioners in the areas of self-care and burnout prevention, and enhance our understanding of the role of self-compassion in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy.
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