Personal Drain: A Social Work Article
Author: Calen Velervron, March 2018
In the field of social work we talk a lot about self care. There is a concept called secondary trauma that occurs for all of us quite often. The concept is that although the trauma of the families we are working with does not impact us directly (its not our families after all) we are impacted by continuous and hard core exposure to these things.
This article is the first I have written in two or three months because of secondary trauma. One of the ways I have dealt with some of the things I have seen are these articles. I have friends here I speak to and I have my company I aspired to that listen to my stories and take the time to respond and talk me through things that may bother me. The hard part is really knowing how to get over all of the things you see on a daily basis. When I very first went into the field I worked all the time until I passed out. I used to go through medical records on weekend nights, return emails all the time, serve on committees and my work phone is always beside me. Part of that has changed with the addition of a new romantic relationship in my life but I still have a very really anxiety issue if my phone is away from me. I check my email a few thousand times a day probably. I have families who count on me, I have children who count on me and that thought drives the job but I am trying to learn to have something for myself. I want to not pour everything I have out of an empty glass.
I wanted to take a moment and share a few interesting things I have found on self care. If you have a stressful job, if you have children or loved ones you care for, remember that it is always important to take care of yourself. As much as it may be in your heart to care for others you cannot do that if you cannot care for yourself.
