Working in the Field of Addiction Counselling – Self-Care

Tom Gabriel (Dipl.) ACW, ICADC, CCAC, CTSS
Wellness Consultant, Crisis & Addiction Counsellor

My mother told me when she found out I was working with alcoholics, “You have chosen a very difficult area of work.” My mother was a Nurse, and throughout her nursing career she had seen many sad cases, and many people who did not recover. She was right, it has been difficult at times over the last 25 years.  

However, there have been many successful cases that were so rewarding, it motivated me  (and still does), to continue working in the field of addiction and mental health. I’m sure many of you have felt the same way.  

Today, we live in a world of “social media misinformation” that, in my opinion, has softened  the tolerance of addictive substances. COVID-19 knocked us all for a loop, current global tensions leading to wars has affected us all to a certain extent, and now, Artificial Intelligence is creeping into our lives. Yes, we are living in uncertain times, and this presents new challenges for those in the “helping” field. With new challenges and uncertainty comes frustration and negativity.  

Many times I’ve heard from colleagues and others in the field of addiction counselling say, “The system is broken, it needs to be fixed!” I have been hearing similar statements for the last 25 years, right from when I first started working with clients, and I expect to hear similar statements in the years to come. I believe these statements are born out of the frustration we feel from working in a profession where we watch clients suffer; where there’s a bureaucratic health care system and heavy case loads. It comes with the job we chose. Yes, the world has changed, but it is always changing.  

In my opinion, a certain amount of frustration will exist in our profession, but increased  frustration is a symptom that we are forgetting our own wellbeing. We can help mitigate  our frustrations that negatively affect our wellbeing by participating in something we often  forget about. Our own self-care.  

Self-care—admit it, we’re not great at it. Or at least, we could certainly do better. In my years of attending conferences, networking, and working with colleagues, most of us say the same thing: I can do better at self-care. Like anyone else, we’re not immune to the same burnout and stressors we see in our clients. We give advice—but do we practice what we preach?

Putting self-care into practice is quite simple, yet we often don’t. Sometimes, all it takes is a gentle reminder and a bit of self-motivation. Hopefully, this article will give you that nudge to put a self-care plan in place.

Here are a few things that have worked for me that you can develop and put into practice. You can adjust my suggestions from the list below to suit your needs, but do it!

• Plan something on your days off that is unrelated to your work/practice.
• Go on a planned holiday. If you are really brave, find a place where your mobile device does not work (or at least turn it off while you are away).
• Learn how to say “no” to workloads that overwhelm you or reduce your productivity. 
  Develop a relationship with a Mental Health Professional for your own personal self-care (separate from Clinical Supervision or within your workplace).
• Find a hobby that you enjoy and actually make time for it (I love music and play guitar, for example).
• Read a book.
• Regular exercise and good nutrition. 
• Spend quality time with family and friends.
• Get plenty of sleep.