Preliminary Self-Care Plan and Rationale

For reference, the course is titled: Professional Self-Care in Integrative Social Work Practice.


I will attach the instructions for the assignment, the template for the assignment, and previous assignments that can be useful for completing this assignment. I will also list readings below to use as well. Please follow the instructions carefully and if you have any questions, please let me know.


  • This assignment has two parts: (1) a personalized professional self-care plan and (2) a 24 page APA-formatted rationale paper explaining and justifying the plan.
  • The self-care plan must be informed by Assignment 1 Professional Wellness & Resilience Self-Assessment (attached) and Assignment 2 Agency Social Worker Interview & Reflection (attached), identifying key risk and protective factors related to personal and professional well-being.
  • The plan must use SAMHSAs Eight Dimensions of Wellness (social, environmental, physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, intellectual, financial) and focus on at least four domains that best fit current wellness needs.
  • For each selected domain, the plan must include: current strengths and challenges, SMART goals, specific objectives, potential barriers, and strategies to address those barriers, using the provided Self-Care Plan template.
  • Goals must be realistic for one semester, measurable, and clearly time-bound; students are graded on planning and critical reflection, not on whether all goals are achieved.
  • The rationale paper (24 pages, APA style) must critically analyze the self-care plan, discuss strengths and areas for growth, demonstrate understanding of all eight wellness domains, and explain how they are interconnected.
  • The paper must integrate course materials, discussions, best practices, and empirical research, using at least four scholarly references.
  • The rationale must also address how external systems (organizations, educational institutions, communities, or society) function as risk and/or protective factors for professional well-being.
  • This assignment has two parts. The first part is a personalized self-care plan. The second part is a rational paper to discuss your reasoning and rationale for what is in your self-care plan.


    The assignment is evaluated based on understanding of wellness domains, quality of justification, completeness of the self-care plan, awareness of external factors, and overall writing quality and APA adherence.


    Please do not use AI and if you have any questions, let me know.


    READINGS:

    Cox, K., & Steiner, S. (2013). Self-care in social work: A guide for practitioners, supervisors, and administrators. Washington, DC: NASW Press.

    Davis, M., Eshelman, E. R., & McKay, M. (2008). The relaxation and stress reduction workbook. New Harbinger Publications.

    Frankl, V. (2006). Mans search for meaning. Beacon Press.

    Grise-Owens, G., Miller, J., & Eaves, M. (Eds.). (2016). The A-to-Z self-care handbook for social workers and other helping professionals. The New Social Worker Press.

    Hinz, L.D. (2018). Beyond Self-Care for Helping Professionals: The Expressive Therapies Continuum and the Life Enrichment Model. 1st Edition. New York, NY: Routledge

    Introduction to Resilience: Building Our Internal Resources (Downloadable Interactive PDF):

    Mathieu, F. (2012). The compassion fatigue workbook: Creative tools for transforming compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization. Routledge.

    Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why zebras don’t get ulcers: The acclaimed guide to stress, stress-related diseases, and coping. Holt paperbacks.

    Skovholt, T., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2016). The resilient practitioner: burnout and compassion fatigue prevention and self-care strategies for helping professionals. New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

    Berkowitz, A, (2022). We need to talk about self-care (but not in the way you think). Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Review, 34(3), 130-135.

    DeMarchis, J., Friedman, L., & Eyrich, G, K. (2022). An ethical responsibility to instill, cultivate and reinforce self-care skills. Social Work Education,58(2), 308-316.

    Josal D., Wooksoo K. & Elze, D. (2018). Perceptions of self-care among MSW students: Implications for Social Work Education, Social Work Education, 54 (4). 657-667. DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2018.1486255

    Alegra, M., NeMoyer, A., Falgs Bagu, I., Wang, Y., & Alvarez, K. (2018). Social determinants of mental health: Where we are and where we need to go. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(11), 95.

    Apgar, D., & Parada, M. (2022). Missing the mark? Reframing NASW’s ethical mandate for self- care as a social justice issue. Advances in Social Work, 22(3), 876-899.

    Gamby, K., Burns, D., & Forristal, K. (2021). Wellness decolonized: The history of wellness and recommendations for the counseling field. Mental Health Counseling, 43(3), 228-245. doi:10. l7744/mehc.43.3.05

    Miller, J. J., & Grise-Owens, E. (2020). Self-care: An imperative. Social Work, 65(1), 5-9.

    Oliver, M. D., Baldwin, D. R., & Datta, S. (2018). Health to wellness: A review of wellness models and transitioning back to health. International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society, 9(1), 41.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 1: Burnout: Backdrop, definition, andthe four attendant syndromes. In Burnout and self-care in social work. Pp. 7-26. NASW Press.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 2: Arenas of burnout. In Burnout and self-care in social work. Pp 27-46. NASW Press.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 3: From compassion fatigue to compassion satisfaction. In Burnout and self-care in social work. Pp 47- 62. NASW Press.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 4: Introducing self-care: An overview. In Burnout and self-care in social work. Pp 27-46. NASW Press.

    Bloomquist, K. R., Wood, L., Friedmeyer-Trainor, K., & Kim, H. W. (2015). Self-care and professional quality of life: Predictive factors among MSW practitioners. Advances in Social Work, 16(2), 292-311.

    Butlsaer, L. D., Mercer, K. L., McClain-Meeder, K., Horne, D. M., & Dudley, M. (2018). Six Domains of Self-Care: Attending to the whole person. Human Behavior in the Social Environment 29(1), 107-124.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 5: Professional Self-Care Introducing Self-Care: In Burnout and self-care in social work. pp 81-95.. NASW Press.

    Chamberlain, L. (2020). From Self- care to Collective Care. International Journal on Human Rights, 17(30), 215-225

    Martino. J., Pegg, J., Frates, E.P. (2017).The connection prescription: Using the power of social interactions and the deep desire for connectedness to empower health and wellness. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 11(6):466-475.

    Smullens, S. (2021). Chapter 6: Burnout: Backdrop, definition, and the four attendant syndromes. In Burnout and self-care in social work. Pp 97-119. NASW Press.

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