1. Burnout, self-care, & professional development! Oh My!
Angela M. Ogburn
Staff Therapist at Georgia Southern University

2. Session objectives
Understand different phases of counselor identity and development using Skovholt & Ronnestad’s model (1992)
Identify your phase and how being in that phase affects you – in addition to the demands of your job
Self-care assessment
Strategies and create a treatment plan
The Lay Helper Phase
The Beginning Student Phase
The Advanced Student Phase
The Novice Professional Phase
The Experienced Professional Phase
The Senior Professional Phase

3. Lay Helper Phase
Helping before training (parents, children, friends, colleagues, etc.)
H can identify problem easily, provide strong emotional reactions and support, and give advice based on H’s personal experience
H feels natural, authentic, competent, assured, relatable, & unfiltered
H is guided by common sense and an ease of simple solutions

4. Beginning Student Phase
H knows previous ways of helping are no longer appropriate, & anxiety sets in as theory, research, the counseling environment, supervisors, colleagues – and then clients! – are integrated
H moves from the known to the unknown and begins questioning the very skills once felt so competent about. Strong desire to speed up the process and be the TV therapist or the expert she *thinks* supervisor is
H may develop a dependency and vulnerability which makes her immensely appreciative of support/encouragement, yet also very sensitive to criticism (actual or perceived)
“How do I keep them talking?” may preoccupy students and decrease ability to concentrate, cognitively process info, or later recall important pieces
Strong need for positive, encouraging dialogue w/ supervisor, straightforward counseling approaches, skills to refocus and decrease anxiety

5. Advanced Student Phase
H is nearing end of training
A strong desire to avoid making mistakes, to excel in work as evidenced by clients “feeling better” and meeting goals
To achieve these, H acts in a conservative and cautious manner, not relaxed, risk- taking or spontaneous
H may have moved from terrified to comfortable
H shifts to critically assessing and evaluating models: how supervisors/senior staff conceptualize cases, their professional behavior, office dynamics – this integration may lead to questioning what they once believed about the profession and/or therapists

6. Novice Professional Phase
First years after graduation – intense & engaging years
H is on his/her own – the immediate sense of freedom bring relief & excitement, yet also fear & self-doubt (which may occur from not feeling clients progress fast enough, not getting the positive reassurance as did from professors/supervisors previously, and colleagues may challenge H’s decisions or leaders may nix ideas)
H often realizes s/he doesn’t feel adequately prepared for the wholeness of the profession – no longer protected (see any presenting client, fight own battles), the drain of staff dynamics, the politics involved within institutions that thwart clients’ needs, boundary issues, demanding schedules
“I went through a stage of depression about work…I realized it didn’t turn out for clients the way theory said it would” – H realizes the complexities of the work
Integration of H’s personality/Self in the work and constant questioning about the appropriateness of this usage of Self

7. Experienced Professional Phase
H has practiced for a number of years, much experience in various settings and with a wide range of clients and presenting concerns
H has a working style and professional environment that is a personal fit, not one that fulfills perceived expectations
The H-client r/s is understood deeply, and H is effortlessly authentic
Techniques are not applied in a rigid, conforming way but one that is personal to H’s style
H trusts clinical judgment, feels comfortable with work, feels competent, is at ease with challenging clients and stating needs within work environment, is accepting of ambiguity and leaving session when it’s over, lets go of over-responsibility
Professional role is left at work & there is comfort “just being” outside of work
Learning comes from work with clients & supervisees & personal life (natural increase in empathy as move through life’s challenges)

8. Senior Professional Phase
H has practiced 20-25yrs +
Seen as a leader and guide by younger staff, though this made lead to feeling as if H doesn’t belong/fit (to H and/or colleagues)
May struggle with apathy and boredom
Typically feels a sense of self-acceptance and satisfaction with work, more modest about what can be accomplished in the work
Ease with challenge and authenticity

9. Self-reflection
What were my thoughts about counseling and my abilities in the lay helper phase?
What disillusionments have I struggled with?
What phase of counselor identity am I in?
How does this phase impact me?
What new awareness has occurred?
How can I move my new awareness into action?

10. ACA’s Task force on counselor wellness & impairment
* Assessments below found under assessment tab
The Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL-III) assessment measures compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, vicarious traumatization, and potential for burnout in counselors (Stamm, 2002).
The Self-Care Assessment assessment focuses on the wellness activities in which counselors may participate across several domains of wellness: physical, psychological, spiritual, and professional (Saakvitne, Pearlman & Staff of TSI/CAAP, 1996).

11. Creating a self-care plan
Further reflection of your phase of counselor identity and its impact
Using Self-Care Assessment to create plan
Reflection on 1) possible barriers to following through on plan 2) problem-solving for how to address those barriers as they arise
Self-Care plan
Vision board
Self-made meditation
Quick Self-care routines to practice at work
Alarms to check-in with self/needs