ABSTRACT
Social workers are not immune to the difficulties of the human experience, with many having experienced stress, mental illness, trauma, and substance misuse. Often, social workers are drawn to their career by adverse life experiences (Straussner, Senreich, & Steen, 2018). If left unaddressed, the potentially harmful impact of these issues, professionally, may be far reaching. The chapter begins by exploring the relationship between ethics and self-care. The next section examines the theoretical rationale for self-care, utilizing the Wounded Healer construct, followed by the “occupational hazards” of the profession. A discussion of self-care regarding both social work practice and education follows, concluding with self-care’s impact on resilience across all levels of social work practice.
