Self-Care & Wellness: A Charge to Keep

Link for Access:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81274251453

The counseling profession is classified as a one-way culture of caring (Posluns & Gall, 2019). One-way relationships may utilize a significant amount of energy and effort. As counselors strive to provide support for their clients, along with moving them towards optimal well-being, they often neglect and overlook their own wellness needs. Further, Posluns & Gall (2019) conducted a study on postgraduate counselors and revealed that over 70% of the clinicians reported experiencing clinically significant levels of distress. Hence, a lack of engagement in self-care can lead to an increased risk for burnout, stress, and professional impairment.

Self-care is a valuable practice that can help prevent compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary trauma. Investing in oneself and reflecting on one’s wellness can lead to higher life satisfaction and more meaningful interactions with others. This webinar will explore the topic of self-care as well as its vital role in maintaining the optimal health and well-being amongst counseling professionals. Attendees will learn how to recognize the signs of stress and burnout and about multiple dimensions of wellness such as physical, emotional, spiritual, occupational, social, and environmental dimensions (Hettler, 1976). They will discuss the importance of understanding ourselves, and looking at our own thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and attitudes. In addition, they will guide participants on how to start creating and implementing a self-care plan. Presenters will discuss practical ideas and strategies for strengthening their self-care and wellness. They will also discuss and help determine what self-care practices work best for the participants, along with providing resources that can further help counselors support their self-care.

Jacquelyn Schuster, CSC, LPC, NCC

Jacquelyn Schuster was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She received her master’s degree in counseling from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) and is currently a doctoral candidate in the counselor education program at TAMU-CC. She is a National Certified Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor (Texas), and is serving in her fourth year as a professional school counselor.

She has served as treasurer, secretary, and president of the Theta Alpha Mu Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota and secretary of the Gulf Coast Counseling Association. Jacquelyn is passionate about professional school counseling, working with adolescents, advocating, wellness, mindfulness, and self-care.

She has presented at the Texas School Counselor Association Conference, Texas Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Mid-Winter Conference, and the Gulf Coast Counseling Association Conference. Her current research is focused on the lived experiences of professional school counselors in addressing student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the return to in-person instruction.

Renita Newton, M.S., LPC-Associate, Doctoral Candidate

Renita Newton is a native of Hammond, Louisiana, and she has resided in Corpus Christi for the past five years. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the counselor education program at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). She received her master’s degree in counseling, with a dual emphasis in clinical mental health and addictions counseling in May of 2019, from TAMU-CC. She is employed as a program coordinator for Trio Student Support Services (SSS)-STEM, a federally funded program that provides academic support to underserved and underrepresented students identifying as first-generation, having a financial need, and/or who are diagnosed with a documented disability.

She actively serves as the president of the Theta Alpha Mu Chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, and she is currently accruing hours to become a fully licensed professional counselor in the state of Texas. Renita is passionate about mindfulness, self-care, and wellness-based practices that can help Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) minimize stress experienced in their daily lives.

She has presented at numerous professional conferences via local, state, and national levels. Her current research is focused on the utilization of mindfulness-based interventions to foster resilience and self-efficacy in first-year African American doctoral students.

In short, she truly has a genuine heart to serve others, and she seeks to bring out the best in everyone that she meets. Renita lives by the quote, “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others”- M. Gandhi