Wellness assessment and plan paper

Wellness Assessment And Plan Paper

Having learned last module/week about the incidence and risk of impairment for professional counselors, this module/week you will assess your own risks and develop a personal wellness plan. Begin by taking the following assessments:

• Stress Reactions Inventory

• Self-Care Assessment, Self-Care Life Pie Worksheet, and Self-Care Social Support Worksheet.

Please reference and use APA format...please see attachments to complete the assignment

Divide your paper into the sections listed below, addressing each question found in the sections. Your paper must be in current APA format (including a title page as well as an abstract and reference page). The abstract must provide a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article in 150–250 words. Note: The title page, abstract, and reference page do not contribute toward the page requirement.

Personal Assessment

• What were your results of the Stress Reactions Inventory? In what ways do you see your results reflecting your current life?

• What were your results of the Self-Care Assessment, Self-Care Life Pie Worksheet, and Self-Care Social Support Worksheet? In what ways do you see your results reflecting your current life?

This section must be 2–4 pages.

Wellness Strategies

Looking at your results of the afore-mentioned assessments:

• What areas of your life need more or less attention?

• What changes do you need to make?

• What steps are you willing to take to reach your goal of implementing needed changes?

SOCIAL SUPPORT WORKSHEET

Introduction: People working in the helping field are subject to conditions that can lead to depletion or even impairment, such as the emotionally intense nature of the helping relationship and increasingly heavy case loads. Receiving support from others can replenish us and reduce our vulnerability to professional stress (White, 1986). In addition, social support has been positively correlated with improved health and mental health outcomes (Cobb, 1976), and shown to be a positive factor in making healthy lifestyle changes (Hanna, 2002; Prochaska et al, 1994). Four types of social support have been identified (Salser, 2003; Cobb, 1976):

Emotional support - refers to demonstrations of empathy, love, caring, concern. Emotional support bolsters one’s self-esteem and confidence. An emotional supporter serves as a confidante, offering acceptance, care, and understanding.

Informational support - refers to assistance with knowledge, information, and skills. Can include providing information on where to go for resources or teaching a skill.

Instrumental support - refers to concrete assistance in helping others to do things or get things done, especially stressful or unpleasant tasks.

Companion support - refers to companionship, feeling connected, people in whose company you enjoy being, especially for recreational activities.

The exercise on the following page will help you assess your current level of social support and think about areas in which you may need to extend your network. As you consider those who offer social support to you, it is also useful to think about the people for whom you play support roles, and to assess your level of comfort in those roles. References: Cobb, S. (1976). Social support as a moderator of life stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 38(5), 300-314. Hanna, F. (2001). Therapy with difficult clients: Using the precursors model to awaken change. Washington, DC: American Psychological Assocation. Prochaska, J., Norcross, J., DiClemente, C., and Crawley, B. (1995). Changing for good: A revolutionary, six-stage program for overcoming bad habits and moving your life positively forward. New York: William Morrow. Salzer, M. (2002). Consumer-delivered services as a best practice in mental health care delivery and the development of practice guidelines. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Skills 6(3), 355-382. White, W. (1986). Incest in the organizational family: The ecology of burnout in closed systems. Bloomington, IL: Lighthouse Training Institute Publications.

ASSESSING YOUR CURRENT SOCIAL SUPPORT

List at least three people who provide each of the types of social support described on the previous page. (It is OK to put the same person in more than one area.)

Emotional Informational Instrumental Companion

Now reflect on the following questions. (You could write out your answers and/or share your responses with a friend or colleague. If you discuss your answers with a friend, you will be putting social support into action.) • In general, how do you feel about your social support network?

• Does your current support network meet your needs for social support?

Are all of different types of social support (emotional, informational, instrumental, companion) covered adequately?

Do you have enough people in your social support network? Do you think anyone in your

support network might be feeling overextended?

Do the people in your network provide the quality of support you would like? If not, what

could you do to make the situation better?

Have their been any recent changes in your support network? If yes, what has been the

impact? In what area(s) are you most feeling the change? • Do you have “job openings” in your support network? If yes, how will go you about

filling these? Try to come up with at least three ideas for ways to expand your social support network in the areas where you perceive a lack.

Exercise developed by Catherine D. Nugent, for Replenish the Well: An Experience in Self-Care, workshop presented at Peer Services: A Life in the Community for Everyone, Fifth Annual Conference of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s Recovery Community Services Program, Washington, DC, July 13, 2004.