ERIC Number: EJ1235034
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Dec
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0164-775X
EISSN: N/A
Self-Care for School Psychologists Advancing Social Justice for Youth
Mann, Angela; Zaheer, Imad; Kelly-Vance, Lisa
Communique, v48 n4 p1, 21-23 Dec 2019
School psychologists deal with challenging situations, including taking on student traumatic experiences, screening for mental health difficulties, dealing with difficult parents, navigating conflict-filled team meetings, advocating for student and family needs, hearing stories of abuse, and supporting school staff who may be experiencing compassion fatigue and burnout themselves. All of this is done in an incredibly challenging landscape where they often feel role conflict-wanting to do more but being stretched thin when ratios of students they serve are nearly double to triple in some cases. There is no shortage of challenges. Schools and school systems are microcosms of the larger systemic injustices and attitudes that perpetuate these injustices within our culture. As school psychologists engage in this very important work of addressing equity for all students they serve, it is expected that they will need to confront bias and create discomfort, and can expect that, if they are doing it right, this work will be stressful. In reaching out to colleagues to write this paper, author Angela Mann was reminded that everyone, including her students who live in extraordinary circumstances, could engage in self-care and that it is necessary if the work of school psychologists as social justice advocate is to be successful. One of the ways school psychologists can help the children in the community living with this violence every day or facing any other consequences of poverty, bias, and marginalization, is to not only engage in and model good self-care themselves, but also to share self-care strategies with them. This article discusses professional burnout, and shines a spotlight on self care, acceptance, commitment therapy and resilience for school psychologists. The article also offers self care strategies, and ways to share self care with others who surround them.
Descriptors: School Psychologists, Work Environment, Burnout, Barriers, Self Management, Violence, Poverty, Social Bias, Therapy, Resilience (Psychology), Mental Health, Well Being, Social Justice, Stress Variables, Stress Management, Trauma, Altruism, Values, Metacognition, Persistence
National Association of School Psychologists. 4340 East West Highway Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814. Tel: 301-657-0270; Fax: 301-657-0275; e-mail: publications@naspweb.org; Web site: http://www.nasponline.org/publications/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A