Unpacking self-care: The connection between mindfulness, self-compassion, and self-care for counselors

Abstract

With an escalating need for provision of mental health services to clients with serious and complex mental health concerns, it is vital that professional counselors find ways to prevent and address the adverse effects of working in stressful, emotionally demanding environments (Craig & Sprang, 2010). While self-care has been shown to mitigate compassion fatigue, self-care activities can be vague and difficult to prioritize. In this article, the authors present a review of the literature on mindfulness in mitigating compassion fatigue in counselors and propose a conceptualization of mindfulness as a gateway to self-care through self-compassion. Implications for research, counselor training, and professional development are discussed