Helping ourselves: a mindfulness-based self-care group for novice counsellors

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to develop a self-care group for new counsellors. The first part of this project includes a literature review that explores foundation concepts including wellness, impairment, mindfulness, and self-compassion. The group outline is organized into two main parts. In the first part of the group, participants are asked to reflect on the experience of counselling. Topics covered include the wellness-impairment continuum, somatic empathy, and stress. Part two of the group focusses on wellness promotion and participants are asked to reflect upon concepts of mindfulness, self-compassion, and creative self-care. Throughout this group, new counsellors will participate in meditations, experiential activities, and discussions. The guiding principle of this group is that if new counsellors are taught tools to broaden their awareness, then they may be better able to recognise when and how they are being affected by helping and intervene with compassionate self-soothing and self-care practices. DedicationThis project is dedicated to all new helpers who understand that in order to help others we need to be able to help ourselves. Vl Part One: The Journey of the New CounsellorCounselling is a unique professional field that requires counsellors to use themselves as a tool in the therapeutic process. In order to be effective, counsellors constantly work to deepen their ability to empathically open themselves up to understanding the experiences of clients so that they can help them on their path of exploration, healing, and wellness. Helpers strive to manage their perspectives, feelings , and life stresses so that they can effectively hold present moment awareness and engage in the therapeutic process with clients. In reality, this is not an easy task and in order to learn how to effectively navigate this field, practitioners often need to deepen their commitment to understanding themselves, others, and the world.For students in counselling, the journey of becoming a counsellor can be both daunting and awe-inspiring. Speaking of my own experience, this period of development has been a time of intense growth and self-discovery, in which I have felt my awareness expanding. This awareness has broadened my self-understanding, and nurtured my appreciation for the complexity of human interactions, and human being, in general. Although I have learned many lessons, I can honestly say that developing deeper self-awareness has challenged me in many ways. The path to becoming a helper is not straight and wide-instead there are many bumps and hazards encountered along the way and this period can be associated with heightened stress, anxiety, and insecurities (Christopher & Maris, 2010; Skovholt, 2001; Theriault, Gazzola, & Richardson, 2009).Skovholt (200 1) describes many of the challenges faced by new counsellors on the road to becoming an experienced helper. The novice counsellor does not necessarily have an established helping identity, therefore, they are in essence, trekking with a crude map that c...