Psychology and mental health professionals work every day to improve the lives and mental state of their clients through their specialized practice. The work done by these professionals is extremely important and helps many people change their lives and improve their well-being.
Unfortunately, while they work to help others, too many professionals forget to use their advice and take care of their own needs. If you are doing any kind of counseling work, it is important to be aware of the mental health risks of this field and ensure you take the necessary precautions to care for yourself.
Separation of Work and Home
Separating work life from your home life is important for any profession. Bringing work stress into your home can cause your life to become unbalanced.
This separation is especially crucial for counselors and mental health workers. This field of work often causes increased levels of depression and anxiety for the professionals involved. It is hard not to involve your emotions in your work because you are working with a very sensitive population
It can be easy to get so caught up in the lives of your clients that you neglect to create or honor your boundaries. Thinking about the situations your clients are dealing with while you are at home can be difficult to avoid, but doing so too often can lead to emotional burnout.
Setting time aside to spend time with yourself, your friends, and your family without the involvement of work is necessary to maintain healthy and positive relationships. If you are caught up in the emotional stress of work, you will not be able to take care of yourself or your loved ones. On the other hand, by not neglecting the relationships and activities you enjoy outside of work, you will have more energy for your clients.
Burnout
Within this profession, burnout is very common. Watching clients lose motivation, relapse, or struggle with difficult emotions can be mentally draining for the counselors who want the best for them. After all, to help people, we have to learn about them and understand them. This can cause us to have some level of emotional connection to their progress. When their progress encounters a setback, they may experience a variety of negative emotions.
Feeling that you have failed at your job to help your clients better themselves is a common but unproductive experience. It can lead professionals to feel burned out with the work they are doing. Ensuring you take care of your personal needs and not letting your client’s problems become your own can help you avoid this level of burnout. Remember that it is not your job to solve their problems, only to support your clients and guide them toward greater agency and healthier decision-making.
Lack of Self-Care
Working in the field of psychology can cause you to focus more on the problems of others than your own problems. This can lead you to lack a level of self-care.
It is important to live under the same standards that you expect from and encourage your clients. Even if you do not struggle with mental illness or substance use disorder, many of the strategies you teach in counseling are essential for you to use to maintain a healthy lifestyle yourself. By practicing the healthy habits and mindsets you wish your clients would adopt, you are becoming a better role model for them as you care for yourself.
Taking the time to care for your emotional needs can reduce the possibility of emotional exhaustion occurring in your workplace or your home life. This will help you keep yourself in a healthy mental state while working with others through their problems.
Detriment to Clients
Mental health professionals not caring for themselves can have an extremely detrimental effect on their clients. If you are unable to care for yourself and separate your work and home life, you will be unable to focus on your clients when meeting with them. Without this focus and engagement, while meeting with your clients, you are wasting their time and not providing them the care they need.
Ensure that you are prepared for each meeting by taking the time to replenish your emotional energy at home so that you can make the time you have with your client as productive as possible. Taking care of yourself so you can provide exceptional service is necessary as a professional in the addiction recovery or mental health field. Not only will you and your family and friends benefit from your self-care, but your clients will too.
If you are a mental health professional, you focus your energy on helping others maintain a healthy state of mind. Within this profession, there is an unfortunate tendency toward neglecting self-care and focusing more on others’ problems than your own. Separating your work and home life can be difficult, but it is essential for keeping yourself mentally grounded. Working in the field of mental health can be emotionally draining if you are not taking care of your personal needs. Burnout is a common risk for mental health professionals. Lack of self-care can be detrimental to you and the progress of your clients. Ensuring you are taking care of yourself is one of the most important factors in having the ability to help others. To learn more about how to take care of your mental health in this profession, call Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.