Redistributing the Responsibility of Self-Care: A Model to Prevent Early Burnout Amongst New Clinicians

Graduate students in mental health counseling programs are on the verge of entering a professional field that is notorious for perpetuating employee burnout. Recently, preventative self-care has been promoted as an actionable treatment to burnout. Internship sites, licensing boards, and academic programs hold clinicians accountable by requiring future clinicians to be competent in self-care. While these systems require competency in self-care, there seems to be a lack of adequate support and education surrounding the practice. The literature reviewed for this thesis indicated a need for reform. This need was evidenced by the various calls for systems to restructure the ways they support individuals in their self-care efforts. Specifically for future mental health clinicians, the support should come from the academic institution and the internship site. After reviewing relevant literature, this thesis proposes the implementation of the supported self-care model. The supported self-care model promotes an equal re-distribution of the responsibility of self-care amongst the academic institution, organization, and the individual. With this model in place, the hope is that future clinicians enter into their profession knowing the importance of supported self-care