Dec em ber 2021 | better sch o o ls
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SELF-CARE:
Wellness for Educators and School Staff By Amanda Sellers, School Climate Specialist, OSDE
Educator, you are essential! The work you are doing changes lives, shapes the future, and nourishes others' wellbeing. Take time to care for you. Is "self-care" a new buzz word or is it one more item to add on the "to do" list? Both are valid thoughts. I encourage you to pause and take time to unpack your feelings and thoughts around prioritizing your wellness. First, let's tackle a few myths attached to the term "self-care." ■■ Self-care
should not make a person feel guilty, selfish, or more overwhelmed.
■■ It's
neither selfish, greedy, nor indulgent to prioritize your mental, physical, social and emotional wellness.
■■ Don't
mistake unhealthy coping habits for self-care. True wellness and self-care are not harmful but positive actions towards wellness
■■ You
can access more details about self-care, including a list of ways to try to create balance here: Self-Care for Teachers and Educational Professionals, 2020.
Self-care is the practice of taking an active role in protecting your wellbeing and happiness, in particular, during periods of stress. Educator and school staff stress level and mental health can lead to negative interactions with students, resulting in more punitive responses, lower engagement, and lack of social-emotional support for students. Educator wellness directly correlates with student wellness and is a primary factor in creating a healthy school climate USDE, 2021. Research indicates “stress contagion” can occur in classrooms where teachers report feelings of exhaustion and burnout, which connects with students experiencing higher cortisol levels in these classes National Education Association, 2016. Elevated cortisol can lead to more fight, flight, and freeze responses among students.
An essential part of a traumainformed school system is recognizing the signs of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and related conditions that show up in daily interactions amongst members of the school community. Recognizing your own signs of distress and assessing your level of selfwellness is the first step in caring for you and your students. SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS (STS) is the psychological distress that occurs after hearing about the traumatic experiences of others, it can occur following the traumatic event, seeing images related to the trauma or having to retell a student’s story Secondary Stress and Self Care. ■■ Feeling
detached from students
■■ Feeling
powerless on how to help students
■■ Intrusive
thoughts about the traumatic event
