SPECIAL FOCUS
How to keep yourself — and your practice — thriving
Strategies to Prevent Burnout and Avoid Occupational Hazards That Can Diminish Well-Being
The following three authors of this article delivered an address at AMHCA ’ s 2023 Annual Conference on strategies for preventing burnout
Laurel Shaler , PhD , MSW , MATS , NCC , LPC , LMFT , LCSW , LISW-CP , is a professor at Liberty University in the Departpartment of Counselor Education and Family Studies , where she has served as a department chair and program director . Her clinical experience includes working with veterans , in a middle-school setting , and in private practice . Her interests include adoption ; emotional well-being of women ; loss and grief ; parenting / mothering ; relationships ; resilience ; and service members , veterans , and their spouses . Dr . Shaler is the author of “ Reclaiming Sanity : Hope and Healing for Trauma , Stress , and Overwhelming Life Events ” ( David C . Cook , 2017 ), “ Relational Reset : Unlearning the Habits That Hold You Back ” ( Moody , 2019 ), and “ Loving Adopted Children Well : A 5 Love Languages Approach ” ( coauthored with Dr . Gary Chapman ). Learn more at www . drlaurelshaler . com .
Holly Johnson , PhD , LCMHCS , NCC , is an online department chair and assistant professor at Liberty University in the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies . She is the founder of a nonprofit agency that provides hunger relief , advocacy , and counseling to marginalized individuals . Dr . Johnson has clinical experience in working with adults , adolescents , and children in both agency and private practice settings . Her research interests include trauma-informed care , generational poverty , wellness , God attachment , empathy , and advocacy .
Jeffrey Boatner , PhD , LPC , LMFT , NCC , has held numerous positions of academic leadership and is currently a core faculty member for the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies at Liberty University . Dr . Boatner has extensive clinical experience , including serving as the clinical director for a therapeutic fostercare program and providing home-based and outpatient counseling to a variety of populations . He has numerous research interests but has been most passionate about his study of the importance of fathers in the lives of their daughters and ways this can be enhanced through clinical intervention or support .
“ Don ’ t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life .”
— Dolly Parton
There ’ s no shortage of information on setting healthy boundaries at work . Searching an online database in our Liberty University library system with the words “ work boundaries ” returned over 7 million results . With so many journal articles , books , newspaper articles , dissertations , and book chapters available , why do so many working people struggle with setting boundaries so that they don ’ t lose their personal lives , their loved ones , or even themselves ?
Boundaries is clearly a topic many people are interested in . The book , “ Boundaries : When to Say Yes , How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life ,” by psychologists Henry Cloud , PhD , and John Townsend , PhD , has sold more than 4 million copies since it was first published in 1992 ( a 2017 version has been updated and expanded ). Yet setting boundaries , including those related to work , continues to be a challenge for many . The rise of home-based working — in particular as a result of COVID and the increase in work-from-home opportunities and even requirements — has made boundary-setting even more problematic .
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors ( LCMHCs ), though often working with clients on the importance of boundaries , are certainly not exempt from struggles finding the work-life balance . One of the challenges LCMHCs face is the constant connectivity with clients that technology has made available . Different expectations about communication can lead to conflicts . For LCMHCs , there are times when clients are struggling and
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20 The Advocate Magazine 2024 , Issue # 1 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org