Just wanted to shoot out an announcement, The Zen Social Worker now has a dedicated domain: TheZenSocialWorker.ca and TheZenSocialWorker.com both redirect here thanks to the great staff at GoDaddy.com they were friendly and extremely helpful.
What originally started as a diararium and opportunity for me to simply share ideas has turned into a source of information on yoga research, consultations on introducing yoga and a place for me to present myself to the community looking for resources on all of the above.
The coming months will bring the publication of many posts and a lot of talk about my research in yoga so stay tuned!
Tim.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Life is busy but there is always yoga.
p.s. Stephanie, I used your camera today to take this picture - I hope you don't mind.
In my studies as a Master of Social Work student I have class and practicum - I work a lot: try to blog as often as I can, teach yoga, do yoga teacher training, write my thesis and work (where I live, this is common to work while in school). Needless to say having a life otherwise isn't really applicable.
All of the above can lead to burnout, something I have come to understand over this past week more deeply. We live in an age where people are expected to do a lot and to work hard while they do it. Deepak Chopra quips that we need to spend more time as human-beings and spend less as human-doings. I had my own journey in exploring this, questioning do I have good self care techniques or have I been maladaptive in dealing with my stressors?
My clients, yoga students and friends frequently remark that they perceive me as a happy guy, I smile a lot and appear to them to usually be in a good mood. Importantly, I do feel good and am generally a pretty happy guy. So, what do I do? Yoga. First thing in the morning, every day for twenty minutes I have my own practice. I had a really stressful week, last week and found that yoga is what grounds me. Allow me to indulge and define ground for a moment; grounding is essentially what I believe gives me emotion regulation and clears my mind, it's the time that I dedicate to my practice of yoga. The Yoga Sutra refers to this as Abhyasa (having a diligent, focused practice). When I lose this diligent and focused practice, I feel it.
Now, doing yoga every morning can sometimes not be the easiest thing to do so some nights I roll my mat out before I go to bed knowing that when it's staring me in the face when I get out of bed - I am more likely to do it. Sometimes I need to set my alarm ten minutes earlier in the morning to make the time for my practice. My morning yoga is generally slow to begin with as I warm up the spine, it picks up in pace and agility as I become more awake; this means that usually I do sun salutations and get into a great flow after about ten minutes of slow, effortful movement. There are however mornings where I don't feel like sweating or going to deep and I modify my practice. I implore you to learn seated sun salutations and use them on the days when you don't feel like getting up and going. There is also always restorative or yin yoga poses which I have also found help energize me or clear my mind when I need it.
This is my form of self-care and I've been good keeping it consistent by getting on my mat every morning and being purposeful in doing so. I also teach yoga and attend/participate in a class a week which I always feel rather zen-like afterwards but yoga alone isn't the key. For me, a good balance of times with friends and family and sticking to a relatively healthy diet keeps me on the right track.
More on yoga later,
Tim.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
So what is burnout and what can I do to avoid it?
Burnout, we know it's bad and that we for sure don't want to get it but what exactly is it and how can I make sure I don't end up with a case of it myself?
I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my recent supervision issue. This was a pretty major event in my professional life and it left me asking big questions about what I expect from a supervisor and it led me down a path questioning the supervisors actions, why did they act the way they did? In reality I may never know but the more I talk with colleagues about it, it sounds like burnout.
So, let me be clear: burnout is bad, I don't want it and I'm sure you don't either. How do we identify burnout though? According Maslach & Leiter on burnout:
Okay, that sounds awful; I mean "an erosion of the human soul" is serious. Realistically do social workers really experience this? I argue yes, social workers meet all the criteria of burnout: overloaded case loads (read an insurmountable number of cases), long work hours, performing work that can conflict with our values, a lack of control in a fast paced environment that destroys a sense of community amongst coworkers. Social workers constantly face issues of downsizing in economies that tend to undervalue or cutback social programs. Ultimately what this comes down to in my opinion is social workers operating in an environment where they try to empower clients but they themselves do not feel empowered much of the time. Let's face it, social workers, nurses, psychologists, doctors, police officers, etc. all experience high expectations from the public - from our clients but how do we feel when can't live up to those expectations or can't fulfill them in a way that we know will be a positive outcome for the client.
Burnout manifests itself in a variety of ways including physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, mistrust and anger can also be product of burnout. Interestingly I found that feelings typically associated with impostor syndrome also become a part of the burnout experience, feelings of vulnerability and uncertainty in areas where confidence was formerly the norm. This according to Mike Gorkin (LCSW), leads to an attitude that is entrenched in cynicism and callousness; here the burned out individual exhibits hostility or are easily provoked.
Through my research the last few days, there are some deeper issues related to burnout that I've come to understand. Burnout it's not for the faint of heart; I recognize that those who get it, have it because they're sticking it out and not quitting. I don't mean to glorify this but I understand it, these individuals have been exposed to the conditions I discussed above for a long period of time. It can't be easy.
The prescription for avoiding burnout and overcoming it self care; a bit of a buzz word in social work schools - but what is it really? I found a lovely article on the Public Health Agency of Canada website which had some great ideas about recognizing stressors in caregivers and some "stress-relieving activities" which appeared to be moderately helpful in my opinion the best I found online were here in a somewhat sentimental article from The New Social Worker Online but I appreciate the sentiment, perhaps because I'm a student and the article is focused on social workers achieving their degrees but one of the most important concepts - don't do it alone. I really appreciate that. Having my friends and colleagues as well as the academic supervisor to debrief with gave me an incredible amount of insight into what I experienced and my own reactions to it. It was validating and helpful, I didn't feel alone.
So does self-care mean not being alone or seeking out supervision? I really don't think so. I think it's the culmination of all the activities that you participate in to secure your mental health. For me, yoga is a big part of me avoiding stressors and keeping myself physically feeling good which has a direct affect on my emotional balance. My twenty minutes of yoga every morning supercharges me for the day (more about my morning yoga here). After a stressful day, talking with friends and colleagues, being social helps but turning the lights down low, sitting on a block and meditating for a few minutes after a run, long bike ride or good run of sun salutations really helps calm my mind.
I told you about me, how do you practice self care?
Tim.
I've spent a lot of time reflecting on my recent supervision issue. This was a pretty major event in my professional life and it left me asking big questions about what I expect from a supervisor and it led me down a path questioning the supervisors actions, why did they act the way they did? In reality I may never know but the more I talk with colleagues about it, it sounds like burnout.
So, let me be clear: burnout is bad, I don't want it and I'm sure you don't either. How do we identify burnout though? According Maslach & Leiter on burnout:
"It represents an erosion in values, dignity, spirit and will.. an erosion of the human soul. It is a malady that spreads gradually and continuously over time, putting people into a downward spiral."
Okay, that sounds awful; I mean "an erosion of the human soul" is serious. Realistically do social workers really experience this? I argue yes, social workers meet all the criteria of burnout: overloaded case loads (read an insurmountable number of cases), long work hours, performing work that can conflict with our values, a lack of control in a fast paced environment that destroys a sense of community amongst coworkers. Social workers constantly face issues of downsizing in economies that tend to undervalue or cutback social programs. Ultimately what this comes down to in my opinion is social workers operating in an environment where they try to empower clients but they themselves do not feel empowered much of the time. Let's face it, social workers, nurses, psychologists, doctors, police officers, etc. all experience high expectations from the public - from our clients but how do we feel when can't live up to those expectations or can't fulfill them in a way that we know will be a positive outcome for the client.
Burnout manifests itself in a variety of ways including physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, mistrust and anger can also be product of burnout. Interestingly I found that feelings typically associated with impostor syndrome also become a part of the burnout experience, feelings of vulnerability and uncertainty in areas where confidence was formerly the norm. This according to Mike Gorkin (LCSW), leads to an attitude that is entrenched in cynicism and callousness; here the burned out individual exhibits hostility or are easily provoked.
Through my research the last few days, there are some deeper issues related to burnout that I've come to understand. Burnout it's not for the faint of heart; I recognize that those who get it, have it because they're sticking it out and not quitting. I don't mean to glorify this but I understand it, these individuals have been exposed to the conditions I discussed above for a long period of time. It can't be easy.
The prescription for avoiding burnout and overcoming it self care; a bit of a buzz word in social work schools - but what is it really? I found a lovely article on the Public Health Agency of Canada website which had some great ideas about recognizing stressors in caregivers and some "stress-relieving activities" which appeared to be moderately helpful in my opinion the best I found online were here in a somewhat sentimental article from The New Social Worker Online but I appreciate the sentiment, perhaps because I'm a student and the article is focused on social workers achieving their degrees but one of the most important concepts - don't do it alone. I really appreciate that. Having my friends and colleagues as well as the academic supervisor to debrief with gave me an incredible amount of insight into what I experienced and my own reactions to it. It was validating and helpful, I didn't feel alone.
So does self-care mean not being alone or seeking out supervision? I really don't think so. I think it's the culmination of all the activities that you participate in to secure your mental health. For me, yoga is a big part of me avoiding stressors and keeping myself physically feeling good which has a direct affect on my emotional balance. My twenty minutes of yoga every morning supercharges me for the day (more about my morning yoga here). After a stressful day, talking with friends and colleagues, being social helps but turning the lights down low, sitting on a block and meditating for a few minutes after a run, long bike ride or good run of sun salutations really helps calm my mind.
I told you about me, how do you practice self care?
Tim.
Friday, February 10, 2012
A bad experience with supervision.
"Listen to me: get out of here and move forward.
This never happened. It will shock you how much it never happened." (As quoted from Don Draper, Mad Men Season 02, Episode 5)
The above quote is one that I've had running through my head several times over the last two weeks. It gave me strength, a stiff upper lip and helped me keep my head when I was working in a hostile work environment; I had the unfortunate experience of being bullied by a supervisor during a school social work placement (internship). When I brought it up with my school, they told me simply not to return. I however, didn't think that was right, I committed to doing this placement, it wouldn't be fair for my patients (hospital healthcare setting) nor for my character; I'm an adult and capable of persevering in a difficult situation.
I returned to the placement the next day much to the shock of everyone and perhaps even to the chagrin of my supervisor who also commented they were surprised I returned. I stayed despite little acknowledgement of the former transgression, and certainly no apology. I had tried to deal with it on my own but the power dynamic was too delicate, I became the problem quickly. I waited patiently for the school to mediate in dealing with the issue. Markedly, in the past I've always been the type to deal with matters in a straight forward way; I've never navigated an atmosphere of little trust, intimidation and unpleasantness before. The worst part about this was when the school finally intervened and removed me from the placement, I was asked to leave without the ability to terminate appropriately with my patients.
As students doing our practicum placements, we can find ourselves in precarious situations where power dynamics are unique. One of my longtime mentors, a brilliant child protection worker and supportive staff trainer with a gentle disposition that I can only liken to motherliness shared with me that during her final practicum placement, her social work supervisor told her that she should not be in social work and that she should quit. Who are these awful supervisor!? How is it that they exist in direct contrast to everything that this great profession stands for? Burnout perhaps - let us assume they weren't always this way.
Onward and upward,
Tim.
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