Although data exist to support the notion that physician self-care is correlated with patient care, the culture of medicine has traditionally valued the ideals of self-sacrifice and perfectionism-often to the detriment of clinicians themselves.
Professional Well-Being: Enhancing Wellness Among Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Mental Health Clinicians, the result of a collaboration by several psychologists and psychiatrists in the School of Medicine at Stanford University, posits a new culture, one that is supportive of the health and well-being of health care professionals and the patients and populations they serve.
The book's first section examines individual and systemic barriers to professional well-being, chronicling the unique challenges faced by health care providers at different stages of professional and personal development. Detailed case studies and vignettes illustrate effective methods for reducing burnout while also enhancing professional fulfillment. Thought-provoking discussion questions encourage readers to focus on implementation tactics applicable to their own health care practices.
Part II discusses personal resilience and realistic strategies--from the mental and social to the physical--to improve well-being. Specific exercises encourage mental health professionals to engage in pragmatic action for improved personal and professional well-being.
Throughout the book, a wealth of tables and figures illustrate important points. The inclusion of "positive practices" and recommended readings offers readers the opportunity to integrate what they have learned and to expand their study.
Patients benefit when treated by clinicians who value and model self-care. Professional Well-Being outlines for mental health care providers, including psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health clinicians, and trainees, how to become such a professional.
About the Author :
Grace W. Gengoux, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is a Clinical Associate Professorin the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
Sanno E. Zack, Ph.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
Jennifer L. Derenne, M.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
Athena Robinson, Ph.D., is Chief Clinical Officer at Woebot Labs, Inc. in San Francisco, California.
Laura B. Dunn, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
Laura Weiss Roberts, M.D., M.A., is Chairman and Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine; Editor-in-Chief of the journal Academic Medicine; and Editor-in-Chief, Books, at American Psychiatric Association Publishing in Washington, D.C.
Review :
Professional Well-Being: Enhancing Wellness
Among Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Mental
Health Clinicians is an excellent resource for mapping out wellness throughout one's career as a
clinician. The book begins with the stressors and
mental health concerns that arise early in training
as a medical student and continues on the path
through graduate residency training and throughout various stages of the clinician's career. The
chronological and developmental nature of how
wellness is discussed is very helpful and relatable.
There is also substantial focus on wellness and
nonclinical aspects of taking care of one's mental
health as well as more clinical approaches, which
creates a balanced perspective. For example, the
authors emphasize mentorship, informal consultation, and various lifestyle approaches as nonclinical ways to promote wellness. Considerable
attention is devoted to the clinical sequalae experienced by clinicians, including burnout, depressive
symptoms, and suicidal thoughts. Sufficient attention is also given to the potentially deleterious
impact a lack of well-being in a clinician can have
on patient/client care.
Some of the strengths of Professional Well-Being
are the details that encourage the reader to think
critically about the complexity of treating mental
health issues among clinicians. For example, the
chapter on considerations for providing care to fellow
clinicians is helpful as it provides details on ethical
considerations, flexibility in scheduling, and how to
approach therapy without making assumptions that
could interfere with the therapeutic process. Another
chapter focuses on building support within systems,
highlighting some of the unique challenges (eg, isolation, lack of autonomy) that may arise depending
on the setting where the clinician works, such as
private practice, hospital, or school system. The
chapter focusing on stressors associated with various
career milestones is also quite helpful and encourages clinicians to think about wellness over the
course of their entire training and career.
Other strengths of this book include the broad
range of interventions discussed. The chapters
focusing on wellness and self-care highlight a number
of useful approaches, including energy management,
time in nature, and mindfulness. Engagement in
health-promoting behaviors, such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, and social connectedness, are addressed.
However, the book also discusses the point when
mental health needs reach a higher threshold, and it
covers topics related to impairment and recovery.
This book will be appealing to clinicians in the
mental health field (eg, psychiatrists, psychiatric
nurse practitioners, psychologists, mental health
counselors, and clinical social workers). I think the
book could offer benefit to an even broader readership, such as family physicians, internists, or those
who practice lifestyle medicine and who treat a high
volume of patients with mental health issues.
Questions and vignettes throughout the book make
the chapters more experiential. From my perspective, this book could have been strengthened by
including even more self-disclosures and personal
case examples. The preface starts with salient examples that are extremely relatable to clinicians
practicing in the mental health field and more of
such examples throughout the later chapters would
have been helpful.
In summary, Professional Well-Being: Enhancing
Wellness Among Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and
Mental Health Clinicians is a great resource for
clinicians. I recommend reading it early during
training because many of the resources and strategies described are preventive and promote positive
mental health. However, it is applicable to clinicians at any l
