Ehrlo Counselling Service’s Amanda DeMarsh knows the importance of self-care.

In the helping professions that make up the majority of our agency, self-care is paramount.

“We have to be strong and healthy to help the people we’re helping in the best way possible,” Amanda said.

With that in mind, Amanda is helping the next generation by conducting a workshop entitled Self Care for Helping Professionals for students in fields such as social work, medicine, and psychology. The workshop is being hosted by Student Energy and Action for Regina Community Health (SEARCH).

“I think with a lot of students that are going into helping professions, they have that strong desire to want to help people, which is the best thing about them,” she said. “However, we also have to be mindful of how to take care of ourselves so that we’re aware of things like how vicarious trauma might affect us, or how compassion fatigue comes into play, or the signs of burnout.”

Amanda has given the presentation a few times and it’s generally well-received. She tries to keep it as interactive and modern as possible – first giving the educational piece, then opening the floor for questions and conversation. She provides tools for students such as apps for mindfulness and setting boundaries between work and rest time.

“I think it’s just part of preparing my profession, the next generation of social workers and other helping professions coming up. I think it’s important for everyone to know about, so any opportunity I have to pass on some knowledge and some research on these topics I think is hopefully helpful.”

Self Care for Helping Professionals will be held on November 21st at the U of R.