An Ethical Responsibility to Instill, Cultivate, and Reinforce Self-Care Skills

ABSTRACT

Many social workers are exposed to trauma directly and indirectly through their academic coursework and practice settings. Research shows that social workers who practice self-care early in their careers are better able and more likely to effectively manage these experiences. In the long term, self-care can reduce staff turnover rates and burnout, and therefore increase the quality of client care. Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work programs have an ethical responsibility to integrate self-care into the curriculum as a professional competency at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels of practice to help cultivate, develop, and retain practitioners long term. This article presents strategies for implementing self-care skill building into social work curricula and field education.

Disclosure statement

This article has not been published elsewhere and is not currently submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Jessica DeMarchis

Jessica DeMarchis is a licensed clinical social worker and registered yoga teacher at Temple University. Laurie Friedman is an assistant professor and faculty fellow at Temple University. Karin Eyrich Garg is MSW program director and an associate professor at Temple University.