Comment on "The Self-Care of Psychologists and Mental Health Professionals" (Dattilio, 2015)

Professor Frank Dattilio's article “The Self-care of Psychologists and Mental Health Professionals” provides an overview of stress and related mental health problems among psychologists, and a proposition that psychologists are not vigilant in regard to self-care. Dattilio offers a range of self-care strategies and recommendations, and highlights self-care practices within various psychology frameworks, and concludes with some “healthy tips” for managing stress. In my commentary I underscore Dattilio's message that self-care is of critical importance in psychology practice, given the responsibility of caring for others inherent in the work psychologists undertake. However, I raise additional points of consideration and suggest an alternative approach to addressing the self-care needs of the profession. My commentary makes the following points: (a) the need to distinguish between psychology trainees and practising qualified psychologists when addressing stress and self-care requirements in the profession; (b) the importance of developing a culture of self-care among psychologists by providing self-care instruction during training; (c) the need to temper research findings on stress and mental health among psychologists by the methodological weakness of the studies in this area; (d) adhering to the recent call from colleagues to shift from a focus on pathology and punishment to a positive acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based approach for encouraging self-care among psychologists; (e) the use of a systematic framework for organising the presentation of self-care strategies that makes them more accessible; and (f) an appeal to professional bodies to take their responsibility in promoting self-care in the profession