Practicing What You Preach: Self-Care for Helping Professionals

Practicing What You Preach: Self-Care for Helping Professionals assists readers in recovering from the strains and demands of working within the helping professions, not through reminders to take a break or a deep breath, but through the recognition that self-care requires a constant commitment to addressing larger and more complex issues that can lead to exhaustion, depression, and burnout.

The book reviews the nature and manifestations of acute and chronic compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and related issues, examining the origins of these difficulties. It explains why traditional, short-term ideas of self-care usually don’t work very well, for very long, and why it’s so challenging to begin and maintain healthy habits. The text helps readers recognize and confront complex issues— dysfunctional organizational climates, neglectful or abusive supervisors, overloaded schedules, unresolved personal issues, interpersonal conflicts, and unhealthy lifestyles—and then move toward productive, healthy, long-term resolutions.

Written with empathy and deep understanding, Practicing What You Preach is well suited for courses in social work, counseling, family therapy, psychology, human services, health professions, and other related fields, as well as a guide for practitioners.

Jeffrey A. Kottler, Ph.D. is one of the most prominent authors in the fields of psychology, health, and education, having written over 100 books across a broad range of topics. He is professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton and resident scholar at the Alliance for Multicultural Community Service in Houston, Texas, where he works on issues related to refugee mental health and wellness.