Caring for Ourselves: A Therapist's Guide to Personal and Professional Well-Being [Hardcover]

Ellen K. Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2002

Ellen Baker addresses a topic that is vitally important to therapists, offering a positive approach to enjoying their chosen profession, being the best they can be at it, and tackling or preventing burnout. A skillful group facilitator, Dr. Baker leads the journey towards self-awareness and self-care among psychology professionals, a group that is characteristically attuned to caring for others. This uplifting and thought-provoking book demonstrates a way to balance personal and professional lives by tending physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and the need to feel connected. Filled with a rich assortment of observations by therapists who share their own challenges and triumphs in their self-care journey, the book examines the conflicts and deterrents to self care that can often lead to distress, impairment, or burnout. Readers are also invited to participate in journaling exercises that systematically peel through the layers of this complex issue by individually exploring topics ranging from exercise and body image to vicarious traumatization, coping, replenishing and seeking personal therapy. This invaluable book offers therapists a positive, proactive approach to enjoying one's chosen profession and being the best they can be at it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dr. Baker challenges traditional taboos and promotes the 'radical' notion that self-care for therapists is an ethical imperative." -- Karen W. Saakvitne, PhD, clinical director of Traumatic Stress Institute, coauthor of Trauma and the Therapist and Transforming the Pain

"Ellen Baker...makes the case decisively that self-care is both necessary and effective for personal and patient well-being." -- Michael F. O'Connor, PhD, Former Chair, American Psychological Association Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance; Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine

Product Details

• Hardcover: 173 pages
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA); 1 edition (December 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557989346
• ISBN-13: 978-1557989345
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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