Self-Care Practices for the Trauma-Informed Couple and Family Counselor

Professional codes of ethics for clinicians require that clinicians monitor themselves for signs of impairment in their physical, emotional, and mental health that may impact services to clients. Monitoring for impairment and self-care are especially important when people are working with client trauma. Self-care means being aware of one’s own needs (e.g., physical, physiological, relational, emotional, mental, and spiritual) and taking action to appropriately fulfill those needs in good timing, such that others are not negatively impacted by one’s own needs. Trauma-informed couple and family therapists are practitioners who view human suffering through the lens of unresolved trauma. Trauma has been described by Peter Levine as the body’s natural response to an overwhelming situation. All counselors should be aware of self-care, but it is especially ...