Mobley_E_Counselor Impairment and Wellness Paper

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Apr 3, 2024

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Counselor Impairment and Wellness 1 Counselor Impairment and Wellness Eboni T. Mobley School of Behavioral Science, Liberty University COUC 500 Professor Deborah Bannan

Counselor Impairment and Wellness 2 Abstract Counselor impairment can happen to anyone working in the field. Counselors must care for themselves mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It took a global pandemic for Americans to learn about the importance of caring for ourselves and our bodies. Counselors need to be in a better space to counsel their clients when they become impaired. Impairment is not just related to drugs and alcohol but mental impairment, distractions, and being overwhelmed. Counselors must check themselves to avoid being impaired and violating the ACA Code of Ethics. Keywords: Counselor Impairment, Burnout, Mental Wellness, Health, ACA Code of Ethics, Self-care.

Counselor Impairment and Wellness 3 Counselor Impairment and Wellness People worldwide have become more aware of the importance of health and wellness in recent years. After all, you only get one body; you might as well take the best care of it. In early 2020, we were forced to shut down after the Covid-19 pandemic swept the world. We were all forced to stay home and quarantine, hoping not to spread the virus. Some people learned new hobbies, some became businesses, and others took much-needed time to rest, heal, and care for themselves in ways they thought they had no time to do before. The world has become obsessed with health and mental wellness. During the pandemic, I was forced to stay home with my husband, two toddlers, two infants, and my mother. And as one would imagine, it was a madhouse, and I was burned out. Working in a field where your primary task is providing care to anyone can take a toll on one’s body, mentally and physically. Counselors take on the mental load alongside their clients to provide them with the best guidance and experience. While counseling is a career we have chosen to pursue, there is no foolproof way to prevent us from getting exhausted. We must be intentional with proactively taking care of ourselves while helping others learn to care for themselves. Defining Impairment When I typically think of someone being impaired, I think of someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol. According to Webster’s Dictionary, impairment is a loss of function. According to Simmons, Lilley, and Kuhnley, impairment regarding counselors can be defined as the inability to manage personal stress, mental health, drug or alcohol abuse, and medical conditions which could interfere with their ability to counsel clients effectively. A counselor being impaired while managing clients could potentially lead to malpractice. There are many reasons a counselor could become impaired. As I noted previously, counselors have lives

Counselor Impairment and Wellness 4 outside of their work. Counselors must take on their client’s stresses on top of whatever they are already dealing with. Managing personal stressors can be challenging for many people. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a great deal of stress for many people. While many of us could stay home and care for our families safely, many were essential workers, counselors being one of the professions that did not shut down during the pandemic. Counselors were expected to maintain their sanity while helping the world through our new normal. Counselors are humans and are not immune to life’s curveballs. Counselors can go through a divorce, have deaths in their families, lose meaningful relationships, the practice they were working with could have shut down, or maybe they could have gotten overwhelmed. Counselors are not immune to addiction or mental health challenges themselves. They can’t avoid life-changing illnesses like getting cancer, having a stroke, or becoming handicapped from a near-fatal car accident. Many of us were a part of the fantastic generation that was exposed to the D.A.R.E to be Drug-Free program in school. Many of us looked forward to the day when the police department would come to the school and give us goody bags with pencils and brochures about how harmful drugs were. Many of those same students who were excited to participate in the program still grew up to struggle with substance abuse. There are many reasons someone chooses to take a drug they know is addictive and could kill them. Counselor impairment can look like many things. Counselors being burnt out could impair their ability to provide quality services to their clients. When burned out with life, I can become withdrawn and quiet, isolate myself, or lash out at those closest to me. Someone burned out can become frustrated quickly, not be attentive to their client’s needs, or show signs of emotional instability. Counselor impairment can be a counselor incapable of keeping the

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