Reflection Paper On Self Care Plan

Sustainable Self-Care Plan
“The truth is that we have no authority over many things in our lives, but we do control how we interact with our situations from moment to moment” (Lipsky, 2009, p. 14). Creating a self-care plan and acknowledging the need to have a self-care plan through self-reflection, I believe, is one of the first steps I can take to be a better equipped professional as I soon enter the social work profession. In my attempt to devise a sustainable self-care plan I will examine my vulnerability and possibility to succumb to burnout, review learned self-care practices and their incorporation as a new BSW professional, and I will recall and reflect on a personal account of imploring professional boundaries and cultural sensitivity.
Vulnerability to Burnout and Trauma Exposure
There are many ways that I could be vulnerable to burnout and secondary trauma. In response to reading Trauma Stewardship by Lipsky and Burke (2009), I have been asking myself recently “has my life been directly impacted by trauma” and “in what ways have I been impacted by the trauma experience of those closest to me”. At the present moment, I cannot recall a time that I have been impacted by personal trauma. When I have said this aloud to my peers, some have expressed concern in my ability to either not acknowledge experiences as trauma or in my nature to “roll it off my back” as one peer said. However, each person’s experience is their own and not everyone experiences trauma (Lipsky,