The Resilient Practitioner: Burnout Prevention and Self-Care Strategies for Counselors, Therapists, Teachers, and Health Professionals, Second Edition

Therapists and other helping professionals, such as teachers, doctors and nurses, social workers, and clergy, work in highly demanding fields and can suffer from burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary stress. This happens when they give more attention to their clients’ well being than their own. Both students and practitioners in these fields will find this book an essential guide to striking an optimal balance between self-care and other-care. The authors describe the joys and hazards of the work, the long road from novice to senior practitioner, the essence of burnout, ways to maintain the professional and personal self, methods experts use to maintain vitality, and a self-care action plan. Vivid real-life examples and self-reflection questions will engage and motivate readers to think about their own work and ways to enhance their own resilience. Eloquently written and supported by extensive research, helping professionals will find this a valuable resource both when a novice and when an experienced practitioner.

Table of Contents:
Caring for Others versus Self-preservation.  Joys, Rewards, and Gifts of Practice.  The Cycle of Caring as the Practice Essential.  Skovholt, Ronnestad, The Long, Textured Path from Novice to Senior Practitioner.  The Elevated Stressors of the Novice Practitioner.  Hazards of Practice.  Burnout: A Hemorrhaging of the Self.  Balancing Caring for Others and Caring for Self.  Sustaining the Professional Self.  Sustaining the Personal Self.  Mullenbach, Skovholt, Burnout Prevention and Self-Care Strategies of Expert Practitioners.  Epilogue.  Self-Care Action Plan.

About the Author :
Thomas M. Skovholt, PhD, ABPP is Professor of Counseling and Student Personnel Psychology at the University of Minnesota, and is a Licensed Psychologist. He has many years of experience as both a practitioner and teacher. Michelle Trotter-Mathison, PhD, is a Therapist at Boynton Health Center and Lecturer at the University of Minnesota.

Review :
"The authors explicitly state the case for help-giving as an extremely complex, dialectical, and demanding occupation. I have no doubt that students, novices, and professionals in the helping occupations will find this to be a major contribution to their professionalism and well-being." -- Moshe Israelashvili, PhD, Tel Aviv University, Israel "I welcome this book, as a psychotherapist, with my whole heart. The authors have left no stone unturned in identifying the pitfalls which can lead to burnout in practitioners in the business of "other care." -- Ursula Somerville, MEAP, MIAHIP, European Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor based in Ireland "Skovholt and Trotter-Mathison have offered well written observations of profound truth, informed largely by the superlative body of research on counselor development by Skovholt and colleagues. A stimulating and validating read for practitioners across the professional lifespan." -- Camille DeBell, PhD, Associate Professor of Counseling, Regis University "The second edition of the Resilient Practitioner is packed with insight and practical tools for mental health professionals. This is a great book for teaching and training, and for periodic self-assessment for the mature professional." -- Arnold Spokane, PhD, ABPP, Professor of Counseling Psychology, Lehigh University