Entering the fields of psychology and psychiatry as a Black student or professional is an incredibly important yet challenging pursuit. As we work towards helping others navigate their mental health challenges, it is crucial for us to prioritize our own well-being. In a demanding field, self-care is not a luxury but a necessity, particularly given the unique stressors that Black individuals may face. This blog post examines the importance of maintaining self-care and provides tips on how to prioritize it effectively.
Written by Chinwe Anyaorah
What Does Self-Care Really Mean?
Self-care is more than just spa days and meditation apps—it's a holistic approach to maintaining one's mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health, and encompasses activities that foster resilience and create balance in your life. For students and professionals working in the field of mental health, this might look like:
Setting Boundaries: Being assertive and learning to say no to additional responsibilities when your plate is full. It is helpful to work towards boundaries being preventative as opposed to reactionary. To do that, it is important to have an understanding of your limitations. Regular check-ins and self-reflection can help cultivate this understanding.
Seeking Support: Engaging in therapy and/or supervision to process your experiences and emotions. Where possible, speak to managers, colleagues, and loved ones about your stressors and concerns.
Balancing Work and Life: Allocating and prioritising time for hobbies, family, and relaxation to prevent burnout. I often use a 3-legged wooden stool analogy in my practice when describing the importance of balancing our routine, necessary, and pleasurable activities. If we think of the wooden stool as our resilience, a lack of balance leads to instability, and impedes on our ability to manage life stressors.
Community Building: Build a community of people who you can relate to and confide in. Engage with people who celebrate and affirm your Black identity. You can do this by joining existing peer groups or creating your own. Social media or networking events (watch this space for announcements on the BiPP Networks' next networking event) are great places to find and connect to people in similar positions to yourself.
Spiritual Cultivation: Actively cultivating your individualised belief system, whether this be through religious practice or other practices like nature connection, mindfulness, or meditation.
The Consequences of Overlooking Self-Care
Neglecting self-care can lead to real consequences, both personally and professionally. Research highlights the high rates of burnout among mental health professionals, particularly those from minority backgrounds who may also contend with microaggressions and systemic biases. Overlooking self-care can result in:
Burnout: A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by unmanaged chronic workplace stress. Although we often interpret work as meaning paid work, burnout can be experienced by unpaid individuals like parents, informal carers, and students as well.
Indirect Self-Harm: Engaging in behaviours that may not be overtly harmful but are detrimental in the long run, such as chronic overworking or neglecting basic health needs. In a work context, I often characterise this as an internal voice saying, ‘Just a bit more’, or ‘I can do that later’. These behaviours can lead to skipping meals or sacrificing sleep to meet deadlines. Recognizing these patterns early is crucial to changing them.
Self-Neglect: Failing to care for oneself can manifest in poor physical health, reduction in productivity, and strained relationships.
Research underscores the importance of self-care for mental health professionals. A study by Miner (2010) found that mental health professionals who engage in regular self-care practices report higher job satisfaction and lower rates of burnout. For Black professionals, the intersection of race and mental health work can amplify stress. Brown et. al, (2024) found that Black mental health professionals experience higher rates of burnout and racial trauma compared to general helping professionals and other Black individuals. The paper also outlined the importance of social support, active resilience building, and regular mentor meetings as linked to lower levels of burnout and racial trauma. The study also highlighted the importance of social support, active resilience building, and regular mentor meetings, linking these factors to lower levels of burnout and racial trauma. This further emphasizes the need for proactive measures to support Black mental health practitioners in maintaining their well-being.
A Personal Reflection
For me, self-care has been a crucial tool throughout my journey as an aspiring psychologist. I don’t always get it right—far from it. As an aspiring clinical psychologist from a global majority background who has struggled with imposter syndrome, I often felt that I could never do enough. At one point in my career, I was collecting relevant experience like Pokémon cards. I was studying and working full-time as a Trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner, a bank Mental Health Practitioner, interning as a research and social media assistant at the BiPP Network, and volunteering as an RA on a community research project. As you can imagine, this wasn’t sustainable, and eventually, something had to give.
I have learned a lot about how to care for myself over the years, and crucially, I will take those lessons with me as I embark on the Clinical Psychology doctorate. I am learning to recognize my signs of stress early, take proactive steps to manage my workload, truly reflect and focus on the quality of my experiences rather than the quantity, and not feel guilty for prioritizing my well-being. Having and developing a support network of fellow black aspiring clinical psychologists to keep me grounded, spending quality time with friends and family, engaging in activities that I enjoy outside of the world of psychology, having a mentor who understood the unique challenges I face as a Black female professional and who affirms and reminds me that I am enough, and leaning into my spiritual practice have all been intrinsic to my self-care practice. Formulating a self-care plan was crucial in helping me identify what self-care looks like for me and in holding me accountable to my practice.
Crafting a Self-Care Plan
Creating a self-care plan is an intentional process. Your self-care plan requires reflection and commitment as it will continue to change and evolve along with your own needs and experiences.
Here’s how to start:
Assess Your Needs: Consider what aspects of your life are most stressful and what activities help you feel rejuvenated.
Set Realistic Goals: Aim for small, manageable steps rather than overhauling your routine overnight.
Diversify Your Practice: Balance physical activities (like exercise), emotional support (such as therapy), and spiritual nourishment (through mindfulness or cultural practices).
Schedule Regular Check-ins: Regularly evaluate your self-care plan to ensure it continues to meet your evolving needs.
Conclusion
As you embark on or continue your journey in psychology or psychiatry, remember that your well-being is a priority. Embrace self-care as a daily practice, not an occasional indulgence. By doing so, you not only develop your own resilience but enable yourself to become a more effective and empathetic practitioner.
You deserve to thrive as much as the clients and communities you serve and by prioritizing self-care, you set the foundation for a more sustainable and fulfilling career.
References
Miner, A. M. (2010). Burnout in mental health professionals as related to self-care (Doctoral dissertation, Pacific University).
Brown, E. M., Taylor, J. M., Burgess, D. L., Cabell, A. L., Captari, L. E., Sandage, S. J., ... & Hook, J. N. (2024). Burnout, racial trauma, and protective experiences of Black psychologists and counselors. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
Johnson, W. B., et al. (2001). "The Importance of Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals: Preventing Burnout and Enhancing Personal and Professional Well-Being." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice.
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