If You Are A Mental Health Professional, Do You Need An Employee Assistance Program? Who will care for you?
As mental health practitioners we can be pretty poor at caring for our own mental health. As empathic and caring individuals we often overlook our own needs to take care of others and don’t realise how much we’re taking on.
We all have limits, burnout and compassion fatigue are real conditions experienced by practitioners in the caring profession, as employers and service providers do you acknowledge the importance of early intervention, support and treatment for your staff? And as individuals do we pay enough attention to our own stress and anxiety to take responsibility for it and ask for help?
Mental health practitioners often work under intense stress, caring for extremely vulnerable people within the constraints of high caseloads, lack of funding and inadequate staffing numbers. Practitioners are often taking on what their clients are experiencing and as a result are suffering similar symptoms – depressed mood, high anxiety, irritability, anger, insomnia … the list goes on.
As fulfilling as it is working in mental health and community services is not a career where you will be acknowledged for everything you do, it can be emotionally challenging and our resilience can be tested every day. Stigma around mental illness affects those working in services as much as those who don’t – as astounding as it may sound, mental health workers fear disclosing their own mental health issues to managers for fear of being judged and discriminated against.
Any assumptions that mental health professionals are somehow exempt from experiencing the effects of trauma, burnout and stress are totally unfounded.
At the Career Development Centre qualified Psychologists and Counsellors provide totally confidential services for anyone who’s mental health is suffering and our tailored Employee Assistance Programs protect and care for both employers and employees.
For further information call (07) 33 55 66 88 or visit www.careerdevelopmentcentre.com.au
