Sustainable Self-Care for Counsellors: A Framework to Address Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and Boundaries
Sustainable Self-Care for Counsellors: A Framework to Address Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and Boundaries
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Issue Date
2025-08-23
Authors
Paez Garcia , Yenny
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Abstract
This capstone project examines the personal and systemic barriers that make it difficult for counsellors, especially women, to engage in meaningful and consistent self-care. Although strong evidence shows that self-care helps protect against compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma (VT), and burnout (Barton, 2020; Wicks, 2012), many counsellors still find it challenging to put these practices into action. The literature review suggests that this may be linked to the empathic nature of those drawn to the profession, as well as a tendency to prioritize others' needs over their own (Lakshmin, 2023; Laverdière et al., 2019). This project addresses that gap by developing a self-care workshop tailored specifically for female-identifying counsellors. It draws on research about mindfulness (Wicks, 2012), boundary-setting (Gibson et al., 2021), and self-compassion (Neff & Germer, 2018), along with research discussing how systems of oppression influence women’s perspectives of self-care (Chemaly, 2018; Domínguez-Castillo et al., 2023; Martínez-Jiménez, 2022). The workshop encourages participants to reflect on how societal expectations and systems of oppression impact their well-being and provides tools to help them create a realistic and sustainable self-care plan (Chemaly, 2018). By supporting counsellors in caring for themselves, this project aims to promote ethical, lasting practice while also encouraging a cultural shift toward greater self-compassion within the profession.
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Keywords
self-care , compassion fatigue , vicarious trauma , burnout , oppression
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States , openAccess