Transformative Leadership Paper

Transformative Leadership Paper, Part II

Nadia Garcia

465

September 23, 2015

Cynthia Hebron

Transformative Leadership Paper, Part II

When we think about self-care, one may describe it as a way to self-indulge in the things they enjoy such as facials, massages, reading a book, exercising.  To take care of one’s self is definitely a way someone can choose to take care of themselves. In this field of human service, are many professionals who get immersed in their work that they tend to forget and disregard their self-care strategies.  As human service professionals self-care is essential when working in this field and should implement self-care strategies to avoid burnout. In this paper I will be discussing self-care and this week’s readings.

                                                SELF- CARE
Self- care is defined as helpful, and useful strategies that one will utilize in order avoid burnout. Having self-care strategies might differ from one person to another as it might involve other forms of self-care.  For example, taking long walks to clear the mind and refresh, taking up a new painting class, which are ways to release everyday stressors.  According to “Mayo Clinic” (2015), “Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace, and balance that can benefit both your emotional well- being, and your overall health.” Self- care is important for someone to have especially in this field because without it there can be consequences such as chronic stress which can also cause burnout.  The importance of self-care is that it can benefit everyone, and in this field of human service it benefit the client(s) as well.  Human service professionals come in contact with clients that are going through difficult situations that either involve marriage problems, anxiety, unemployment, addiction, diseases.  The human service professional can be aware of the client’s stressors and can help them become aware of their own personal self-care strategies.  Human service professionals should develop and maintain self-awareness of both their professional and personal control to better monitor their determination to exercise professional self-care and to be able to adequately support colleagues to better serve the client(s) and agency.  

                                               PHILOSOPHY
In the readings the agency started off a bit rocky due to disagreements, and not respecting other opinions followed.  Since then, the agency has adopted a philosophy for self-care that involves development of leadership skills ensuring that all employees are following the proper procedures that will ensure improvement in management.  Implementing effective communication skills has improved the agency by using politeness as a way to respect others opinions.  Some of the ramifications when self-care was not being implemented in human service profession can cause burn out on the individual, as it can be very challenging for professionals.  Taking care of one self’s needs can be critical in order to perform adequately as a professional and the clients they serve.  Burn out involves emotional exhaustion, fatigued, depersonalization which can affect how one performs at their place of work and can be projected onto their clients that affects their overall job performance.