Do you struggle to prioritise self-care? Are you constantly giving too much of yourself to others? This book will give you the tools and confidence to put yourself first and make self-care a priority. 'Self Care For Givers and the Helping Professions' is a must-read book for any kind of givers, care givers, healers and empaths, as well as anyone who struggles with mental health or supports those who do. This practical yet personal book explores why we don't and how we can care for our Mind, Body and Spirit, taking the reader on a journey through common blocks and obstacles that so many of us have to self-care. From our thoughts about how selfish it feels to pay attention to ourselves and what we can do about that, to treating ourselves with compassion when we don't manage to self-care as our conscience may be prodding us to! Self-care can be about removing that guilt and taking ownership, so that you do not feel you are always offering an empty cup. Many of you may relate to how grumpy and irritable we feel when we are tired and worn out, and burn-out is common in the helping profession, but not always recognised until it's happened. It's time for self-care to be normalised. There are examples of my own difficulties of self-care through agoraphobia, social phobia, M.E. Unable to work for years, by adopting a holistic lifestyle, my story as a self-employed Holistic Therapist is different nowadays - but still a work in progress! This book discusses this voyage of discovery, with an emphasis throughout on helping you find what is right for you - we are all different. Start your journey to a happier, healthier you today

Self-care is an imperative for the ethical practice of social work and other helping professions. From A (awareness) to Z (ZZZZ--Sleep), the editors and contributors use a simple A-to-Z framework to outline strategies to help you build a self-care plan with specific goals and ways to reach them realistically. Questions for reflection and additional resource lists help you to dig deeper in your self-care journey. Just as the ABCs are essential building blocks for a young child's learning, you can use the ABCs in The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals to build your way to a happy, healthy, ethical life as a helping professional. Includes a self-care planning form to help you set goals and formulate strategies. The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals...offers a broad range of concrete suggestions for improving individual self-care that should provide guidance and support to fit a broad range of practitioner needs. The book also includes material in several chapters that notes the important role organizations must take in stress and burnout reduction and support of self-care. SUE STEINER, Ph.D., MSW, Professor, School of Social Work at California State University, Chico, Co-author, Self-Care in Social Work: A Guide for Practitioners, Supervisors, and Administrators ...a caring and useful resource for helping professionals concerned about burnout, stress, staff turnover, and wellness.... By focusing on insights and reflections and providing resources and strategies, The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook is a practical guide and an empowering book. DR. BARBARA W. SHANK, Ph.D., MSW, Dean and Professor, School of Social Work, University of St. Thomas, St. Catherine University, Chair, Board of Directors, Council on Social Work Education As the leader of a large nonprofit organization, the health and well-being of my colleagues is always top of mind for me. The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals is just what an organization like ours needed to promote self-care in a way that makes sense for all of us! JENNIFER HANCOCK, LCSW, President & CEO, Volunteers of America-Mid-States Sometimes there is a book that speaks to what you also have tried to put into words that feels truly hand-in-glove. I see The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals as precisely this book. SARAKAY SMULLENS, MSW, LCSW, author of Burnout and Self-Care in Social Work: A Guidebook for Students and Those in Mental Health and Related Professions Grise-Owens, Miller, & Eaves' The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals is a much-needed handbook to inspire and guide self-care practice. Its insights are far-ranging, original, practical, and flexible. The short chapter format, focused topics, and fresh tone are both accessible and sure to motivate. Even those who have given a great deal of thought and attention to self-care will find new, exciting, and practicable guidance in its pages. LISA D. BUTLER, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University at Buffalo, School of Social Work, Primary Developer, UBSSW Self-Care Starter Kit

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

"The Caregiving Trap" combines the authentic life and professional experience of Pamela D. Wilson, who provides recommendations for overwhelmed and frustrated caregivers who themselves may one day need care. "The Caregiving Trap" includes stories about Pamela's actual personal and professional experience along with end of chapter exercises to support caregivers. Common caregiving issues include: A sense of duty and obligation to provide care that damages family relationships Emotional and financial challenges resulting in denial of care needs Ignorance of predictive events that result in situations of crises or harm Delayed decision making and lack of planning resulting in limited choices Minimum standards of care supporting the need for advocacy

Physicians and other helping professionals have created a practical, hands-on book that will aid in the identification and reduction of job stress. Nurses, physicians, thanatologists, and psychotherapists are among the growing number of health care professionals whose physical and mental health are being severely affected by work stress. This unique volume achieves what no earlier book has attempted for this specialized professional group. It offers a thorough understanding of professional burnout, elaborating how burnout develops and offering a model with which to identify job stressors. Professional Burnout in Medicine and the Helping Professions also offers an in-depth exploration of stress and burnout issues from the perspectives of specific medical and helping profession disciplines--physicians, nurses, social workers, psychotherapists, teachers, consultants, agency and hospital workers, funeral directors, and more.Experts in these fields examine the values, ethics, and morality of individuals, health care organizations, and society that may lead to burnout This in-depth and highly practical volume identifies the stages of disillusionment and offers successful intervention strategies for recognizing the signs and reducing or efficiently managing causative factors.

You'll find in this book far more than just 10 new ways to get out and about if only for a couple of hours a week. This book gives mini-lessons in handling life and the bricks the universe sometimes throws at you. I say THROW THEM BACK! This book helps you discover ways in which to recharge your life and find the balance that caregivers so desperately need in order to get off the caregiver merry-go-round and back on the playground.