Brian Seaward: Managing Stress

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In reading the text, Managing Stress by Brian Seaward, Therapists guide to self-care by Lillie Weiss, naswnc.org, and Organizational Prevention of Vicarious Trauma I learned the importance of self-care, especially in the field of Human Services. I think that many individuals enter into Human Services due to their passion for making a difference in the lives of others. However, if we forget to help ourselves first, we can fall prey to burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. Moreover, in some cases, those stressors can lead to weakening of professional judgment and duties. Additionally, I think sometimes when we realize we need self-care, it’s when we’re already exhausted and beat up. I feel that knowing when it’s time to prioritize …show more content…

This demonstrates how healthy self-care methods can be life sustaining and vital for a successful career. Consequently, by having healthy self-care methods, a person can expect to lesson health related ailments such as heart disease, high blood pressure, or other potential ailments (Seaward, 2017). I see that one way to practice self-care is by using coping skills and relaxation techniques. For example, meditation is a way to relax while also produces long term benefits such as recognizing the habits of the mind. I think that with the variety of ways one can implement meditation it provides user friend options for spiritual and mental release from stress. Similarly, deep breathing or Diaphragmatic breathing are also techniques used to encourage awareness in the body, emotions, and thoughts and relax the muscle tension built from stress (Seaward 2017). Moreover, research shows that social workers report decreased stress, improved mood states, decreased ruminating and distracting thoughts, increased immune function, and reduced symptoms related to a number of physical ailments such as chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer when they use mindfulness meditation as a self-care practice (Siegel 2009). I feel that this provides concrete reasoning for the importance of self-care in the field of human services. I think it is easy to fall prey to the fast paced and instant gratification of today’s world and when working with others this can increase the risk of harming ourselves and

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