Self-Care Course: Developing Sustainable Well-being for Social Work Students During Placement

About Course

Welcome to the Wiser Ways self-care course.

Wiser Ways recognises the emotional demands of the social work profession and completing a placement. This course has been developed as a resource to invest in your well-being during your placement and beyond. 

What Will You Learn?

  • In the Wiser Ways self-care hub, you will learn practical strategies to maintain your wellbeing while navigating the emotional demands of social work placement. You will explore evidence-based self-care practices, stress management techniques, and ways to set healthy boundaries. Additionally, you’ll develop skills to recognise early signs of burnout, build resilience, and create a sustainable self-care routine that supports your professional and personal growth.

Course Content

1. Introduction
Welcome to the Wiser Ways self-care course. Wiser Ways recognises the emotional demands of student and professional life. This course has been developed as a resource to invest in your well-being for students in mind, however, it can be used for anyone who wants to learn to weave self-care into daily life. 

2. What is stress?
Let's first explore what stress actually is—how it affects us, why it varies from person to person, and the impact it can have on well-being. Understanding stress is key to managing it effectively. From there, we’ll learn about the PSS, a widely used, 10-item tool for assessing perceived stress. It helps track stress levels over time, offering insights into coping and stress management. Clinicians use it, and it's a practical resource for social work practice. Regular use during placement is recommended.

3. Time Management & Minimising Stress
Whether you are on placement as a student, studying or engaging in work, it will require self-directed time management to balance the different spheres of life. Depending on your placement location or work situation, tasks may vary. Use strategies like chunking, the Pomodoro technique, or apps like Forest to stay focused and avoid burnout. Regular breaks and stretching also improve productivity and wellbeing.

4. Self-care Doesn’t Have to Be Another Job to Do
Self-care involves activities supporting physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing, tailored to individual needs. Key areas include physical health, relationships, work-life balance, emotional awareness, and spirituality. Effective self-care requires self-awareness, adaptability, and a personalised plan. It helps manage stress, maintain health, and promote overall wellbeing through meaningful and supportive practices.

6. Creating a Personalised Self-care Plan
This section guides you in creating a personalised self-care plan for your placement journey. It encourages identifying non-negotiable self-care activities and setting achievable goals across physical, relational, work, emotional, and spiritual domains. The plan helps track goals, required resources, strategies, and emotional benefits to support wellbeing during placement.

7. Benefits of a Reflective Journal
Along with developing a self-care plan, writing a reflective journal can be extremely useful. This optional tool encourages self-reflection during placement. It provides a structured format to track daily experiences, promote mindfulness, and support emotional well-being, helping you process challenges and recognise achievements throughout your journey.

5. Evidenced-based Self-Soothing Therapies to Try
This section introduces various therapies and interventions that focus on self-regulation and modelling balanced behaviours. These approaches can be applied both personally and professionally, offering valuable tools for individual well-being and for supporting future clients. It covers Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, and EFT, highlighting their applications in mental health, self-care, and therapeutic practice.

8. Other Therapeutic Strategies for Consideration
This section provides self-soothing exercises drawn from various therapies to support emotional regulation and stress relief. Exercises include the Basic Exercise (Polyvagal Theory) for nervous system reset, the Butterfly Hug (EMDR) for emotional regulation, Tapping (EFT) for stress reduction, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation to release tension and promote relaxation.

9. Additional Resources
Below is a list of additional readings and resources which may be useful to support your learning and development during placement.

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