What role does self-care play in social work training workshops?

Dear Humans, Social workers' work can be emotionally draining, and training workshops aim to address this by focusing on self-care. These workshops help identify stress, and burnout, and develop coping mechanisms. By prioritizing self-care, social workers can be more effective, avoid burnout, and create a healthier work environment, strengthening the social service system.

As care workers we tend to care more for others than for ourselves. Sometimes we think that caring for ourselves is selfish. But true self-care means to acknowledge our own value. If we acknowledge our own value we can truly acknowledge the value of others and therefore care for them more truly. Not from a point of "I like to help" or "it's my duty". But from a point to know what caring really means because we experienced it with ourselves. Self-care means accepting and loving ourselves. If we know how to do that, we can accept and care for others. And if we lack energy and empathy because of daily life, we know that we can always come back to caring for ourselves.

Self care is the backbone of social care given to clients. An emotionally drained social worker cannot solve case management issues efficiently and effectively. Case management entails a multidisciplinary approach to case management which maybe jeopardized by scenarios where the caseworker maybe suffering from stress, burnout, anxiety, compassion fatigue, transference, vicarious traumatization. Self care keeps the physical, emotional, spiritual, social and psychological aptitude of the professional caseworker catered for, and functional. Self care promotes perseverance, endurance, and mental aptitude in check. This is promoted in conferences, workshops, symposiums meant to educate the social worker about the dangers of ignoring

I would recommend self care as one of the important aspects in life. This is because if we are fit ourselves, only then can we serve others better. Experience teaches us to be more careful with our health so as to teach others the same. A person who is hale and healthy can contribute to the society much more than the other. So self care has to be given the utmost importance to lead a life that has a purpose and motto.

O autocuidado nas oficinas de forma??o em Servi?o Social é crucial para prevenir burnout, promover saúde mental, melhorar produtividade e eficiência, servir como exemplo positivo para clientes e desenvolver habilidades de resiliência e gerenciamento de estresse.

Practical skills can be helpful to establish a routine to take time for ourselves and listen to ourselves. These skills can not only help us in our job as social workers but also in daily life. If I know how I can come back to myself, I can have a safe haven within myself. But these practical skills should only be a transitional help to explore what self-care is really about. Yes, breathing techniques can help you to calm down. But what is this situation really about? Why do you have to use breathing techniques in the first place? What did you miss out before? What are your needs at this moment? Practical skills are very helpful tools, but that's all what they are: tools.

Self-care is often located in the personal and private time. It's something you should do in your free time. But as social workers, we are constantly working with people who need support and care. We work with their emotions, their life choices and their life crisis. We work with people who need protection. This is part of our job. Therefore, it should be a part of our job to have time to take care of us. A space to rest at your break. Times when you don't have to answer the phone so you can answer your mails or write reports. Time with the team to relax and reflect on cases. Acknowledgement of the work we are doing in the form of appreciation and a fair salary.

An understanding that work/life balance isn’t always about complete separation of the two, but accepting that our work-self and personal-self can intertwine and overlap, ‘switching off’ is not always easy but training can help us notice this and still find ways to prioritise our own values, wellbeing and self care.