#gseap

Seven months into her new role as dean of the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions (GSEAP), Laurie Grupp, PhD, spoke with Allison Wade of the Marketing & Communications Department about her background in multicultural bilingual special education, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on teachers and counselors, and what’s on the horizon for GSEAP.

Photo: Laurie Grupp, PhD

Prior to joining Fairfield you were the associate provost for faculty affairs at Providence College. You have a background in elementary special education with a focus on multicultural bilingual special education. What drew you to those fields?

I went to Boston College where I majored in Psychology and Philosophy and participated in the PULSE Program, where I engaged in service-learning experiences that were integrated into philosophy and theology coursework. My service was primarily in a residential facility for adolescent males who had emotional, behavioral, and/or learning difficulties. Leading up to graduation and looking for what was next for me, I was invited to apply for a teaching position at an alternative school in Boston where I worked with students who were truant from the public school system. That’s where I started to see patterns among the most vulnerable students, and I noticed that they were often identified and misidentified as having special needs.

Then by chance I visited a friend who was living in Puerto Rico and I felt drawn to spend more time there. I found a job teaching fifth grade at a bilingual international school in Ponce, Puerto Rico and again saw a pattern of a lack of support for students whose learning was not developing as expected. It was at that point that I became fascinated with the intersections of identity and experience around language, culture, race, ability, disability, and learning. After my time in Puerto Rico, I applied to graduate school for an education degree in multicultural bilingual special education at New Mexico State University. It was a great opportunity where all of my interests were pulled together in one place.  

As a dean, you are involved in so many aspects of the University and of GSEAP. What has being a dean meant for you during your first seven months at Fairfield?

First and foremost, in my role as dean I work to support our students, faculty, and staff in their day-to-day work. During the pandemic this has meant supporting GSEAP Chairs and Directors to make sure students have access to their field and clinical experiences working in schools and with clients in community agencies.

I also focus my efforts on what’s next for GSEAP in the near future. I’ve invested time in learning about faculty initiatives and have collaborated within the School to determine what we can move forward on now, even with the challenges of Covid-19. The other important aspect of my role is developing a long-term vision for GSEAP. I’ve been focused on where we want to be in the next five years and what we can do now to prepare for that, such as building internal infrastructure to support existing programs and create new ones as we grow.

Another important aspect of my work involves collaborating with campus-wide administrative teams to promote broader University initiatives while supporting the Provost in her efforts to ensure positive learning experiences for all students. Representing GSEAP on these teams has been important and has given me a chance to virtually meet many of my Fairfield colleagues.

Where do you see opportunities to expand on the strengths of GSEAP’S education and allied profession programming?

On the horizon we would like to develop doctoral level programs, specifically with an EdD in educational leadership. Our Master in Social Work program is currently undergoing accreditation review, and once we graduate our first class, we may have an opportunity to consider a doctorate in social work. New doctoral programs would represent significant growth for the School.

GSEAP is unique in the number of programs we offer. All have come from a combination of faculty expertise and commitment to the needs of our community partners and the populations they serve. As we shore up our infrastructure, we need to continue to incorporate data and field-based research to further enrich these programs. We also need to identify what we may be missing within our program offerings, such as preparation for racial equity work. We have a strong school-wide commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and an active EDI committee that is leading us in our efforts to strengthen our identity and commitment to racial, social, and organizational justice.

Erica Hartwell, PhD

Associate Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy

Director of Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health Program

Graduate Teacher of the Year

Graduate School of Education & Allied Professions

Remarks from Fairfield University’s 2020 Alpha Sigma Nu Induction.

Good Afternoon President Nemec, Provost Siegel, fellow honorees, Alpha Sigma Nu inductees, colleagues, family, and friends.

It is an honor to speak with you all today. I want to begin by offering my sincere congratulations to all of the Alpha Sigma Nu inductees. You were selected for your scholarship, loyalty, and service. You are some of the strongest students at Fairfield University. Your dedication to your own learning is not just reflected in your grade point average, but in the way you approach your courses, the critical questions you ask of yourself and the material, and how you integrate this learning into your daily life. You are also loyal to the Jesuit ideals of education—you are here not only for academic learning, but to grow as a whole person. Finally, you are committed to serving others and have demonstrated that at Fairfield, in your community, and across the world.

Commitment to service and the promotion of justice are cornerstones of Jesuit ideals and education. Many of you chose Fairfield University for this very reason. Many of you are here today because you have embodied those values in your daily lives.

Today, I would ask us to think critically about what kind of service we are offering the world and if our service is truly in the promotion of justice.

When I was six years old, my younger sister was born and with her, my drive to be helpful. Before her, I felt special just by existing. I was the first of my generation—my parents’ only child, my aunts’ and uncles’ only niece, my grandparents’ only grandchild. When my little sister came along, I realized I was going to have to work a little bit harder to feel special. So I became a devoted big sister to her and to another sister born two years later. I loved teaching them new things, being their role model, and trying to keep them out of trouble.

This pattern evolved as I became an afterschool counselor, a mentor, a tutor, a paraeducator, a therapist, and a professor.

Somewhere between becoming a therapist and a professor, I realized that my desire to help and serve others was largely driven by my own needs. Those needs I first felt at six years old. The need to feel right, important, needed, and good.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I wasn’t serving others, I was often trying to save them.

This realization was incredibly uncomfortable. In my efforts to help, I diminished the agency and resiliency of others. I created a hierarchy where I was powerful and helpful and others were powerless and helpless.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, am I trying to save people? How much of my service is driven by my own needs?

Paul Maloney, PhD

Professor of the Practice, Applied Psychology

In recent years many organizations have turned to teams as a strategy for focusing upon a number of different organizational issues. They are confident that “many heads” are better than one and are often times more creative in their resolution of many organizational problems and the development of new processes and products.

There are a number of varied teams depending upon their specific missions and their longevity. Among these are temporary teams established to deal with a specific issue such as work overload and are disbanded once the issue has been resolved. Another is the task force focusing on a specific project that may be of critical importance and requiring the skills from a variety of different departments.  

Permanent teams are formed with a long term commitment in mind such as product or service development. Even after the mission has been accomplished the team remains intact and works on another product or service design and development. Cross-functional teams are used to address issues affecting several departments simultaneously and requiring the expertise representing different perspectives and skills.

Self-managed teams work on a common purpose and manage the process, the communications, and product without a supervisor. They typically work together onsite. Virtual teams, on the other hand, communicate through the use of email and phone calls, and connect through the computer, as they are some distance from one another.

By Paula Gill Lopez

This is Part II of a two-part article. Part I, published last month, highlighted the ethical mandate for self-care among school psychologists to effectively manage stress and prevent burnout. Part II describes an effort to promote self-care, its application to preservice training, and student responses.

Recognizing the critical need for self-care not only for graduate students but also for school professionals, pro bono self-care workshops were offered last year and eagerly attended by colleagues in public school districts across the state of Connecticut. School psychologists and teachers seemed desperately to want permission to set aside time to focus on themselves. Initially, it appeared that the ethics and burnout arguments for self-care were not persuasive enough to extract a long-term commitment until two additional pieces were added to the message. The first was a neurobiological explanation of the importance of being good role models for students and how self-care facilitates being at one's best. The second is increasing the likelihood that people actually engage in self-care by helping them customize a plan that works for them, including strategies that have long lasting effects.

A Neuropsychological Rationale for Modeling Self-Care

We are a perverse profession when it comes to self-care. We self-sacrifice; we put others first; it's who we are. There is a reluctance to take care of oneself because it is perceived as being selfish. Neuroscience research describing the development of a child's prefrontal cortex (see Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1993; Montgomery & Schore, 2013; Moore, Pfeifer, Masten, Mazziotta, Iacoboni, & Dapretto, 2012; Porges, 2004) was shared to persuade workshop participants and students to put themselves first for the sake of the children with whom they work. The prefrontal cortex, where responsible decision-making and self-regulation occur, is still developing until the mid-20s for some. Youth learn to self-regulate through emotional contagion (“catching” another's emotions by unconsciously mimicking facial, vocal, and postural feedback) and mirror neurons (transmission of internal states from one to another). The condition of an adult's nervous system, as expressed in the adult's behavior and perceived by the student, has a great influence on children and youth– more so than what comes out of an adult's mouth. A child's parasympathetic nervous system is incomplete; it is completed through the unconscious attunement to adults in their environment–for better or for worse.

Once, after I had shared this simplification of brain science with a group of teachers, one of the teachers looked a bit horrified. She recounted an incident that had happened that afternoon with her class. She was walking around the room, as she often did, telling her students to “relax.” But she herself was clearly not relaxed and the students got louder and more unsettled until she realized, not in the moment but in the workshop, that she was shouting “Relax!” in an extremely unrelaxed way. It was a powerful moment for the group and really drove home the critical importance of our ability as adults to provide a calm, self-regulated presence for students’ nervous systems to involuntarily emulate. This is especially crucial for those children who may have unstable, dysregulated adults in their home environments. I have found this information to be most persuasive in motivating practitioners to commit to engaging in self-care.

Shifting a Paradigm

It is a somewhat counterintuitive mindset that cares for the self before others, especially for a school psychologist. The goal is not just to mitigate burnout, but to proactively promote well-being. In the field of school psychology, putting all others before oneself is the norm. Practicing self-care proactively requires a drastic paradigm shift. Consequently, workshops were designed according to the ADKAR model for change (Hiatt & Creasy, 2003). Hiatt and Creasy maintain that there are five steps for promoting successful change: 1) raise Awareness for the need for change, 2) nurture a Desire to participate in the change, 3) provide Knowledge regarding how to change, 4) develop the Ability to change, and 5) Reinforce the change. The workshop content described below is not provided to preservice graduate students in as concentrated a form; instead, using the same model for change, students receive content gradually and repeatedly throughout their program (e.g., practica and internship classes begin with a 5–10 minute self-care strategy). Professional workshops were developed corresponding to the ADKAR steps as follows.

Raise awareness of need to change. Using video clips, empirical data, and neurobiological research, participants were introduced to self-care as an ethical imperative. I define self-care as the intentional, proactive pursuit of integrated wellness through balancing mind, body, and spirit personally and professionally. This definition has several elements. Intentional means to do something deliberately. It is a purposeful premeditated act (self-care should be planned and scheduled to ensure it is accomplished). To be proactive is to be preemptive (doing something before it has to be done). It is the difference between treating mental illness and promoting mental health. It is essential to proactively practice self-care; otherwise, one is likely to miss warning signs of imminent burnout. Integrated refers to caring for and functioning as a whole person. Finally, to achieve balance one must attend to all aspects of their person (mind, body, spirit) with equal frequency.

Nurture a desire to change. A rationale for and benefits of practicing self-care were shared to create an incentive to engage, including ethical behavior, avoiding burnout, and the effects of adults’ internal states on children. Mindful awareness practices (MAPS) were introduced as a means for creating a calm emotional state (Crum, Salovey, & Achor, 2013; Jazaieri et al., 2013; Neff, Kirkpatrick, & Rude, 2007). MAPS comprise a variety of nonjudgmental, present-moment focus strategies and produce two primary benefits: (a) greater focused attention and (b) self-regulation (Holzel et al., 2010). There is an emerging literature demonstrating the benefits of educators avoiding burnout through practicing mindfulness. One study found that teachers’ mindfulness was negatively correlated with Maslach's burnout components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and perceptions of low accomplishment (Abenavoli, Jennings, Greenberg, Harris, & Katz, 2013): There are other researchers who have found similar results using mindfulness as a primary self-care intervention for educators and therapists to effectively manage stress and combat burnout (see for instance Flook, Goldberg, Pinger, Bonus, & Davidson, 2013; Jennings, Frank, Snowberg, Coccia, & Greenberg, 2013; Roeser, Skinner, Beers, & Jennings, 2012; Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel, 2007).

Educators' mindfulness is one aspect of social–emotional competence that may protect them from experiencing burnout and its negative consequences ... the protective effect of mindfulness was most pronounced among more stressed and more ambitious educators. This study adds to accumulating evidence that mindfulness promotes resilience in educators and may foster healthy educators, classrooms, and students. (Abenavoli et al., 2013, p. 57) Provide knowledge of how to change. After reviewing the literature, I conceptualized two categories of self-care: temporary and enduring. When employing temporary strategies, neurotransmitters are released in the brain depending on what is happening in different regions. For example, dopamine is released when gratitude is practiced, while norepinephrine is discharged when looking at a picture of a loved one (Hanson, 2013). Examples of temporary strategies are spending time with friends (spirit), eating more protein (body), and reading for pleasure (mind). These strategies do not have long-lasting effects because the “feel good” neurotransmitters are released and then subside.

Enduring strategies permanently strengthen the neurological functioning of the brain (see Carter, 2015; Davidson & Begley, 2012; Hanson, 2013; Newburg & Waldman, 2009). Simply put, when information flows through the nervous system, consciously and unconsciously, and neurons fire collectively in regular patterns based on the information represented, neural structures change. Enduring strategies have a mindfulness component. Activities in this category include practicing mindfulness (spirit) and gratitude (spirit), journaling positive events (mind), being awe inspired (spirit), exercising aerobically (body), and conversing about abstract ideas (mind).

Develop ability to change. Participants practiced various self-care strategies to determine those that felt comfortable.

Reinforce the change. The final portion of the workshop was devoted to developing comprehensive self-

care plans, using SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound) to create habits that cement self-care into daily routines. An example of a temporary SMART goal is: I will meet a friend for a dinner or a movie on the last Friday of every month (spirit, mind, and body). An example of an enduring SMART goal is: After making my tea in the morning, I will focus on my breath for 7 minutes and then study one chapter in my Bible (spirit and mind). As mentioned, the most critical element in developing a self-care plan is to choose strategies that are likely to be regularly utilized based on particular stressors and life circumstances.

Proactively practicing self-care is a necessity to productively manage stress and prevent burnout and, as such, should be required practice and reflected in all professional documents, including those that guide ethical behavior and training. Specific issues can be addressed by practicing concepts like taking in the good to increase optimism (Hanson, 2013), for example. Self-care may seem out of reach for those who think they are too busy (or too anxious, depressed, physically hurt, etc.). But there are strategies that can actually reduce perceptions of busyness by finding the minimum effective dose (Carter, 2015). Selecting the right self-care activities and them consistently in small quantities several times a day can help to alleviate the negative effects of stress (Carter, 2015; Hanson, 2013). Small efforts can produce big returns. Carter, a former marathon runner describes adjusting her expectations so she can be more efficient with her time, ultimately feeling less busy and doing more.

This morning I ran for only nine minutes ... For a former marathon runner, slowly jogging less than a mile a few days a week seems pathetically unambitious. But here's the thing: I'm now consistently running twenty miles more per month than before I drastically reduced my ambitions.” (Carter, 2015, p. 11) She goes on to write that she is stronger, physically healthier, pain-free, and sporting her prepregnancy, athlete weight by exercising consistently in small doses. For this reason, workshop participants are encouraged to thoughtfully develop their self-care plans and adjust them as often as necessary.

Self-Care Testimonies

In preservice training, self-care has been increasingly spotlighted in my courses in the last 2 years, from the first introductory course to the last internship seminar. Students in a variety of ways have informally highlighted the importance of intentionally making self-care a focus of the program. Primarily, appreciation for the self-care focus has been anecdotal. Students have brought up the wisdom of practicing self-care in conversation with advisors and in class, and a few students have referenced their gratitude for self-care in my course evaluation data.

As described in the literature and in the personal stories of alumni, being a school psychologist is an extremely challenging job. The most persuasive and poignant data I have that self-care is a worthwhile preservice initiative is from unsolicited intern reflections I have received over the last 2 years. I secured permission to share them and I have included excerpts from two of them here.

Reflection 1: Self-Care

As a child, my parents always taught me how important it was to go to work. They embodied the concept of a “Protestant work ethic” and expected me to follow in their footsteps. Regardless of their health condition, they would arrive at work to do their duty and make sure to take care of their responsibilities. In addition to going to work, they would ensure that everyone else's needs were met before their own. They always emphasized hard work, dedication, and most importantly, putting others before you. No matter what, they found a way to take care of family members, coworkers, and friends even at the expense of themselves. Therefore, when I began this program I found it very difficult to grasp the concept of self-care.

As I began to practice self-care, I struggled to fully accept the idea and was concerned that practicing self-care would be contrary to my family's values. In fact, at times, I felt like putting myself first was selfish or even self-indulgent. Certainly, I did not want to be accused of being self-absorbed. However, I found that taking a small amount of time to practice self-care helped me to feel better and be more efficient. In the end, I found myself having an internal debate about self-care.

As the new school year approached, I started to think about how I could be the best me and what goals I could set for myself. While searching the Web, I found a quote that spoke to me: “Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” The more I thought about the quote, the more I realized that I needed to make self-care a priority. I have come to accept that I need to take care of myself and that self-care is an act of survival. I need to find a way to be as compassionate toward myself as I am to others. I recognize that self-care is not narcissistic or selfish but an act of self-respect. So this year, I promised myself to take time to practice self-care and take time off when I am ill, ultimately knowing that taking the time to practice self-care will help me to be healthier, happier, and better equipped to do my job.

All that being said, I am proud to say that when I got sick recently, I stayed home. Despite feeling a bit guilty, I resisted the temptation to go to work ill. I was proactive and went to the doctor. While this may not seem like a big step to some, this was a huge success for me. Overall, I am thankful that my graduate program has challenged me to practice self-care.

REFLECTION 2: ILLNESS AND SELF-CARE - I THINK FAIRFIELD IS SAVING MY LIFE

In the past week, I developed a tonsil infection, learned I am allergic to clindamycin, and have a pending referral to visit an ENT to explore the possibility of surgically removing my tonsils. Being sick and having to slow down has made me focus a lot on self-care, which has made me reflect on the impact of our program on my practice of self-care. It may not seem related to self-care, but I am glad on a weekly basis that I got into Fairfield [University].

The truth is, I have taken horrendous care of myself through my academic career and hadn't really realized the extent of which until this week. I am no stranger to all-nighters, or to forgetting to eat or drink water while completing work, or to consuming far too much caffeine to try to get myself through “the rest of the day,” when I knew I was going to continue the same pattern all week just to keep up. When I got to Fairfield, I was sleeping between 4 hours and 30 minutes a night, driving over 2 hours a day 6 days a week, and consuming probably 250mg of caffeine daily just to keep myself from falling asleep behind the wheel, at work, or in my classes. I spent all my time working, going to school, commuting, and taking care of other people who took my effort for granted. I was not taking care of myself. Naturally, this had an impact on my mood and my body. I was angry and sad and afraid most of the time, doubting my choice to continue directly into graduate school instead of taking a year off, and feeling like I was barely able to keep my head above water. I made it through my first year and decided to continue on with the program.

At the beginning of year 2, I really started to notice the effect that caffeine and sleep deprivation was having on my body. In our counseling methods class, I volunteered to share the difficulties I was having with sleep and got to explore some different options for changing my habits. I made little progress in changing these habits that semester, but I was becoming aware that this was not a sustainable way to live if I didn't want to burn out in my first year on the job. Things started changing for me when we started practicum supervision. Practicum supervision really woke me up to the amount of stress I was under and how little I did to cope with that stress besides smash it down inside and try to go about my day as normal. As we started to go through our different group facilitations, I noticed that I was almost always close to tears, and that my back was holding so much tension that my hands frequently felt numb. I set goals for myself based on our screening tools: I wanted to get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and spend time doing physical activity instead of spending all of my free time lying in bed watching movies and YouTube videos. Sure enough, as I started to make changes, I started to feel a little better. I cut down on caffeine because of a recommendation by my doctor. I started practicing yoga during some of my free time. At the end of the semester, I made the commitment to find a counselor by the end of the summer to develop better coping skills for dealing with stress.

Without the facilitation of honest reflection and skill building that has been built into our program, I know now that I would have burnt out. I have been too hard on myself with the standards that I set for my own behavior and what I expect that I should be able to do in a day. I have to slow down and listen to my body. Thank you for focusing on self-care with us. I think this is something that many more academic programs need to explicitly teach as a prevention strategy.

A Parting Plea

Consider this analogy. At the beginning of every airline flight, passengers are told, in the event of a drop in cabin pressure, to put on their own oxygen masks before helping others. These instructions ensure that the persons who are in a position of responsibility are not compromised so they can do what needs to be done to care for others. It recognizes that people cannot help those in their charge unless they protect themselves first. Even this analogy is slightly flawed in that it does not account for the proactive, self-aware necessity of self-care that would not require a reminder to put on the oxygen mask first because the primacy of self-care has been ingrained.

A healthy school psychologist has appropriate boundaries, objective insight into the issues of those with whom they work, the ability to self-regulate their behaviors, and is a model for wellness and adaptive coping. That can only happen through ongoing self-care. It is posited here that proactively practicing self-care is a necessity for school psychologists to productively manage stress and prevent burnout and, as such, should be required practice and reflected in all professional documents, including those that guide ethical behavior and training. There are precedents to guide us. To truly engage in best practice, we must begin with self-care.

References

Abenavoli, R. M., Jennings, P. A., Greenberg, M. T., Harris, A. R., & Katz, D. A. (2013). The protective effects of mindfulness against burnout among educators. The Psychology of Education Review, 37(2), 57–69.

Carter, C. (2015). The sweet spot: How to find your groove at work and home. New York, NY: Ballantine.

Crum, A. J., Salovey, P., & Achor, S. (2013). Rethinking stress: The role of mindsets in determining the stress response. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(4), 716–733. doi:10.1037/a0031201

Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The emotional life of your brain: How its unique patterns affect the way you think, feel, and live—and how you can change them. New York, NY: Penguin.

Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., Bonus, K., & Davidson, R. J. (2013). Mindfulness for teachers: A pilot study to assess effects on stress, burnout, and teaching efficacy. Mind, Brain, and Education, 7(3), 182–195. doi:10.1111/mbe.12026

Hanson, R. (2013). Hardwiring happiness: The new brain science of contentment, calm, and confidence. New York, NY: Crown Publishing.

Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional contagion. New York, NY: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme.

Hiatt, J. M., Creasey, T. J., & the Change Management Learning Center (2003). Change management: The people side of change. Loveland, CO: Prosci Research.

Hölzel, B. K., Carmody, J., Evans, K. C., Hoge, E. A., Dusek, J. A., Morgan, L., ... Lazar, S. W. (2010). Stress reduction correlates with structural changes in the amygdala. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 5(1), 11–17. doi:10.1093/scan/nsp034

Jazaieri, H., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. R. (2013). A randomized controlled trial of compassion cultivation training: Effects on mindfulness, affect, and emotion regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 38(1), 23–35. doi:10.1007/s11031-013-9368-z

Jennings, P. A., Frank, J. L., Snowberg, K. E., Coccia, M. A., & Greenberg, M. T. (2013). Improving classroom learning environments by cultivating awareness and resilience in education (CARE): Results of a randomized controlled trial. School Psychology Quarterly, 28(4), 374–390. doi:10.1037/spq0000035

Montgomery, A., & Schore, A. N. (2013). Neurobiology essentials for clinicians: What every therapist needs to know. New York, NY: Norton.

Moore, W. E., Pfeifer, J. H., Masten, C. L., Mazziotta, J. C., Iacoboni, M., & Dapretto, M. (2012). Facing puberty: Associations between pubertal development and neural responses to affective facial displays. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(1), 35–43. doi:10.1093/scan/nsr066

Neff, K. D., Kirkpatrick, K. L., & Rude, S. S. (2007). Self-compassion and adaptive psychological functioning. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(1), 139–154. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2006.03.004

Newberg, A. B., & Waldman, M. R. (2010). How god changes your brain: Breakthrough findings from a leading neuroscientist. New York, NY: Random House.

Porges, S. W. (2004). NEUROCEPTION: A subconscious system for detecting threats and safety. Retrieved from http://www.stephenporges.com/images/neuroception.pdf

Roeser, R. W., Skinner, E., Beers, J., & Jennings, P. A. (2012). Mindfulness training and teachers’ professional development: An emerging area of research and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 6(2), 167–173. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2012.00238.x

Shapiro, S. L., Brown, K. W., & Biegel, G. M. (2007). Teaching self-care to caregivers: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the mental health of therapists in training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1(2), 105–115. doi:10.1037/1931-3918.1.2.105

Retrieved From

By Paula Gill Lopez

“Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” — Eleanor Brownn

Several years ago, something happened that changed the way I think about school psychology and how I train school psychologists. During a break at a PREPaRE workshop, a school psychologist working at a middle school approached me. He shared that while I was defining trauma and crisis, he realized that his entire school staff was currently traumatized and in crisis as a result of all the recent emphases on the Common Core, standardized testing, and personnel evaluations. His words touched a chord in me and I reflected deeply on what he said.

Similarly, I have more than once heard from former students who lament the fact that they did not know that their lives as school psychologists would be so stressful. The defeat in their voices made me wonder if there was more I could do to prepare them.

This work describes a journey I have undertaken that has revealed a detrimental omission in the way we train and practice as school psychologists. The good news is that steps can be taken to remediate the omission and a whole new generation of school psychologists can learn how to protect themselves against burnout and, more fundamentally, care for themselves in proactive, healthy ways.

The Ethical Mandate For Self-Care

Self-care is an ethical imperative of the utmost importance. For the purpose of this discussion, this claim is supported from three perspectives: (a) ethical codes, (b) burnout literature, and (c) neuroscientific research on the development of the prefrontal cortex; followed by a brief description of global self-care intervention.

The conversation begins in the field of ethics itself. Regardless of the field of practice, the universal ethical principle across all professions is do no harm. Specifically, “School psychologists have a legal as well as an ethical obligation to take steps to protect all students from reasonably foreseeable risk of harm” (NASP, 2010, p. 2).

Several authors writing in the area of clinical psychology have urged us to “[b]egin self-care at the top” (Norcross & Guy, 2013, p. 752) by petitioning professional associations to explicitly include self-care in their ethics, accreditation standards, and beyond (Barnett, Baker, Elman, & Schoener, 2007; Norcross & Guy, 2013, Wise, Hersh, & Gibson, 2012).

The NASP Principles for Professional Ethics (NASP, 2010) hold school psychologists to the highest standards. Yet, noticeably absent is any explicit mention of self-care in service of that high calling. The same omission is found in the American Psychological Association Ethics Code (APA, 2002). However, self-care is implied in both documents where they highlight the importance of psychologists, in their words and actions, demonstrating respect for and a commitment to just and fair treatment of all individuals with whom they work (APA, 2002; NASP, 2010).

Jacob, Decker, and Hartshorne (2011) criticize ethical codes “because they tend to be reactive” (p. 3). Take, for instance, Standard II.1.3:

School psychologists refrain from any activity in which their personal problems may interfere with professional effectiveness. They seek assistance when personal problems threaten to compromise their professional effectiveness. (NASP, 2010) Although self-care is necessary to ameliorate one's “personal problems,” in a field that has prevention as one of its 10 prioritized domains, proactive self-care should be one of the ethical standards in its own right. In the same way that mental health is much more than the absence of mental illness, nurturing positive emotional states through self-care is not the same as alleviating harmful disruptive emotional states after the fact.

There is precedent for including self-care proactively in ethical codes in an attempt to avoid personal problems. The American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics (ACA, 2014) names self-care as an ethical requirement, as does the Feminist Therapy Code of Ethics. See the relevant excerpts below:

IV. Therapist Accountability

E. A feminist therapist engages in self-care activities in an ongoing manner outside the work setting. She recognizes her own needs and vulnerabilities as well as the unique stresses inherent in this work. She demonstrates an ability to establish boundaries with the client that are healthy for both of them. She also is willing to self-nurture in appropriate and self-empowering ways. (Feminist Therapy Institute, Inc., 1999)Section C. Professional Responsibility – Introduction

[C]ounselors engage in self-care activities to maintain and promote their own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being to best meet their professional responsibilities. (ACA, 2014, p. 8) Additionally, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2010) mandates that school counselors “practice wellness” for optimal ethical practice.

E. Responsibilities to Self

E.1 Professional Competence

Professional school counselors ... E.1.b. Monitor emotional and physical health and practice wellness to ensure optimal effectiveness. (ASCA, 2010). Jacob et al. (2011) define ethics as a “system of principles of conduct that guide the behavior of an individual” (p. 1). We require school psychologists to employ best practice; to accomplish this they must be at their absolute best. If this is true, it follows that one of the principles of conduct that guides behavior in the field of school psychology without question must be to proactively practice self-care.

Burnout

Is it really necessary to legislate self-care? The answer is a resounding yes. There is an epidemic of stress in our society today and working in schools can be the epitome of stressful, especially in the current climate. Stress that is not mitigated effectively can lead to burnout. Those who practice in the mental health field have very high burnout rates due to the stressful nature of the work (Barnett et al., 2007; Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel, 2007; Wise et al., 2012). Moreover, school psychologists may have the highest burnout rates among all helping professionals (Burden, 1988; Huebner, Gilligan, & Cobb, 2002; Wise, 1985). Perhaps, this is due in part to the fact that “psychologists employed by the schools may have less control over aspects of service delivery than practitioners in private practice” (NASP, 2010, p. 2).

According to Maslach, burnout is defined as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity” (Maslach, 1986, p. 61). Emotional exhaustion develops when work demands exceed personal resources, resulting in weariness to the point of no longer caring. Depersonalization happens as a consequence of not seeing people as people any longer but, instead, as problems to fix. Perceptions of reduced personal accomplishment foster a learned helplessness of sorts—the realization that no matter how hard one tries, nothing makes a difference. Maslach and Leiter (1997) cite work variables that can lead to burnout: work overload, lack of control, insufficient reward, unfair treatment, breakdown of community, values conflict, and lack of fit between the person and the job. There is a strong likelihood that anyone who works in schools has experienced at least one of these work variables at some point in their career.

To counteract the negative mental health effects of stress and burnout, practitioners must take care of themselves before they can care for others; otherwise, those with whom they work may be put at risk. “Poor therapist self-care is associated with increased personal vulnerability, reduced self-monitoring, poorer judgment, and, as a result, greater ethical breaches” (Keith-Spiegel & Koocher, 1985 as cited in Porter, 1995, p. 248). In contrast, characteristics of a healthy fully engaged worker are: energetic, involved, and efficacious (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). These characteristics can be cultivated through self-care.

Wityk (2003) maintains, “Self-care is one of the primary methods of preventing and treating therapist burnout” (p. 5). Furthermore, when discussing the sometimes seemingly insurmountable stressors psychologists face that can lead to burnout, Barnett pleads, “[W]e must engage in active attempts to effectively manage these challenges and demands through ongoing self-care efforts. Failure to do so may result in harm to our clients, our profession, ourselves, and others in our lives” (Barnett et al., 2007, p. 603).

In the literature on burnout prevention in mental health professionals, several authors address preservice interventions. The importance of emphasizing and practicing self-care in preservice training programs increases the odds that self-care will be practiced in service (Barnett et al., 2007; Bamonti et al., 2014; Heubner et al., 2002; Newell & MacNeil, 2010; Shapiro et al., 2007).

One way this can be done is through the modeling of wellness, stress management, and personal growth by faculty (Heubner et al., 2002). Self-care facilitates these positive psychological states. If self-care figures so prominently at the training level for protecting against practitioner burnout, shouldn't it be included in training standards?

At least one helping profession agrees. Section 2.F.1.l. of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) states “self-care strategies appropriate to the counselor role” must be included in the training curriculum included in Area 1. Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice (Retrieved from http://www.cacrep.org/section-2-professional-counseling-identity).

To address concerns about maintaining well-being and practicing effectively given the current stressful educational landscape, I resolved to promote self-care to members of my community (inside and outside the university). My efforts to promote self-care and subsequent outcomes will be described in Part 2 of this article published in next month's issue of Communiqué.

References

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