Applications of Self-Care Within the Counselling Practice: Lessons Learnt Across the Professional Lifespan

This volume presents counsellors' self-care journeys across all stages of the professional lifespan—early career, mid-career, and tenured professional. Each chapter presents a contributor's personal reflection and insight on sustaining oneself in the field through a strengths-based, autoethnographic lens. Addressing challenges like burnout, structural barriers, and global events (e.g., pandemics, natural disasters, and human rights movements), the collection highlights the realities of balancing self-care while supporting others. Although all affiliated with ACAP University College, the contributors bring unique perspectives shaped by personal experiences—such as motherhood, caregiving, grief, and cultural contexts—and professional backgrounds in clinical psychology, research, allied health, trauma-informed care, and multidisciplinary practice. Aimed at inspiring emerging counsellors and students while offering insights to seasoned professionals, this volume provides practical strategies on how resilience and longevity can be supported across the counselling profession.

Gabriella Karakas is a lecturer in Psychology (ACAP University College), researcher, and counsellor. As an academic, Gabriella has experience across educational and governance functions - including course coordination, lecturing, research supervision, unit coordination, and teaching. Her research is focused on designing inclusive communities, and she actively contributes to interdisciplinary discussion regarding diversity, mental health, and the promotion of wellbeing from an intersectional lens. As a therapist, Gabriella has experience in intervention, assessment, and diagnosis across various client demographics, ages, and clinical profiles. She has presented in international conferences, been the recipient of multiple grants, and contributed to publications, edited news, radio, and blogs.

Daniel R. du Plooy has been a senior lecturer and honours coordinator in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the ACAP University College since 2021. With a background in psychology and communication science, he has been teaching undergraduate students for the past 20 years. He has also worked as a research officer at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health, and Society (ARCSHS) at La Trobe University, where he completed his Ph.D. His research interests lie in psychological well-being, and he currently supervises several student research projects in this field.

Vicki Hutton is Professor and Chair of the Discipline of Counselling at ACAP University College. After working in the health and community sectors as a counsellor and group facilitator specialising in trauma, family violence, and carer support, Vicki moved into teaching and research at Monash University (Victoria) where she completed her Ph.D. Vicki’s research interests and publications include mental health and wellbeing, diversity, health-related stigma, animal ethics, and the human-animal relationship.

Margaret Anne Carter leads the Master of Guidance and Counselling course, James Cook University [Australia and Singapore]. Margaret Anne intentionally intertwines research, teaching, and community engagement in her leadership, thus ensuring practice based evidence and evidence based practice are the backbone of the course. Margaret Anne’s relentless motivation and challenge is leading and sustaining ethical, active and diverse student-directed and educator-led teaching and learning experiences, where students transition from preservice counsellors to professional counsellors and school guidance officers. Throughout this process, students show their commitment to ongoing personal and professional development and self-care to ensure sustainable practices.