Workshop Title: The Centrality of Professional Self Care for Effective Social Work Practice: Understanding the Causes of Social Worker Stress, Multiple Strategies for Professional Self Care, and Implications for Practitioners, Supervisors and Administrators

In 2008 the NASW Delegate Assembly adopted a policy statement recognizing the critical importance of professional self care for all social workers.  Central to this is the recognition that stress, regardless of its source, must be understood and addressed in order to assure optimal services to clients.  The statement identified that responsibility for supporting professional self care resides at all levels of an organization, including administration, supervision, and the individual worker.  In addition the responsibility of schools of social work and field placement in teaching about professional self care was also underscored.

This workshop will review the NASW policy statement on professional self care and address the sources of stress that emanate from work with clients, the worker’s own background as well as the sources of stress that emerge from conditions related to the organization.  Strategies for dealing with stress will include cognitive and emotional approaches and the importance of workplace-personal life balance.  The emergence of strategies for increasing professional self awareness and reducing stress such as mindfulness, meditation and energy work, including breathing and qigong, will be demonstrated. 

The workshop will include developing professional self care plans, reflecting the sources of stress and effective strategies for addressing them, and the elements for creating a supportive organizational climate will be reviewed.  One of the takeaways from the workshop will be the understanding that multiple strategies are needed to successfully deal with stress and that there is no silver bullet.  Stress can be reduced but not necessarily eliminated, and that some degree of stress and anxiety may actually enhance performance.  The importance of matching performance to the requirements of the work will also be noted, including the notion of ideal performance states. 

Presenter: 

Robert S. Schachter, DSW, MSW served as the executive director of the National Association of Social Workers, NYC Chapter from July 1990 to January 2017.  During his tenure at NASW-NYC, he focused considerable attention on the impediments and challenges to effective practice, and in the past year developed a curriculum on professional self care for social workers based on the NASW professional statement adopted in 2008 on professional self care, emphasizing the need to prevent burnout, secondary stress and vicarious trauma.

3 CE Contact Hours

REFUND REQUESTS:

All refund requests must be submitted by email to workshops@naswnyc.org . Valid requests must be received no later than five days prior to course date. 

All refunds are subject to a $20.00 administrative processing fee. Credit cannot be issued toward a future program date or substituted for another workshop. Refund requests typically require 1-2 weeks processing time.