Title: How Social Workers Can Prioritize Self-Care in High-Stress Working Environments | USC Social Work
Headings: How Social Workers Can Prioritize Self-Care in High-Stress Working Environments
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How Social Workers Can Prioritize Self-Care in High-Stress Working Environments
Understanding secondary trauma
Understanding burnout
Guidelines for practicing effective self-care
1. Practice self-awareness
2. Divide the mission of self-care into categories
3. Create a detailed self-care plan
4. Stay accountable
Creating increased awareness about the stress of social work

Content: Of course, many social work roles include a particular focus on addressing the needs of underserved populations. Since many professionals in these roles must help their clients grapple with trauma on a daily basis, they are often at high risk for experiencing stress and burnout. And yet, due to the service-minded nature of social work and mental health care, practitioners’ own mental health needs tend to go overlooked. Not only are organizational support systems often ill-equipped to meet social workers’ needs, but many social workers feel pressure to “always be on”—and as a result, may inadvertently neglect their own mental wellness. Steve Hydon, clinical professor in field education, explained the most common types and causes of stress social services professionals experience as a result of their work, and offered actionable tips for mitigating stress and promoting mental wellbeing. Understanding secondary trauma
“Among the most common negative mental health effects of dealing with others’ trauma every day is secondary trauma,” said Hydon, whose expertise in secondary traumatic stress has informed research and intervention strategies for K-12 teachers across Los Angeles County. Secondary trauma, also referred to as vicarious trauma or compassion fatigue, is the indirect exposure to trauma through the reception of a firsthand account of another’s traumatic experience. According to the American Counseling Association, care providers may experience secondary trauma as a result of becoming “witnesses to the pain, fear, and terror that trauma survivors have endured.” This phenomenon can lead to a symptomology comparable to that of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including reexperiencing, hyperarousal and avoidance. Clinicians who have experienced secondary trauma may find themselves unable to stop thinking about a certain client’s traumatic past, or alternatively, may find themselves purposefully avoiding the subject or even feeling numb toward it.