Career counseling for longevity: Self-care and burnout prevention strategies for counselor resilience

Balancing self-care and other-care is often a struggle for career counselor s and others in the helping professions. The process of caring is made up o f a constant series of empathic attachments, active involvements, and felt separations. The ability to continually engage in "the caring cycle" is imp ortant for success. However, the constant need to re-create the cycle of ca ring can lead to counselor depletion and burnout. This article provides a d evelopmental framework for assisting career counselors to avoid depleted ca ring while prolonging their professional longevity. The model of self-care includes recognizing the hazards of "high touch" work, such as limited reso urces and constant one-way caring. Also addressed are specific means of pro fessional and personal sustenance, such as maximizing experiences of profes sional success and balancing personal wellness throughout one's career.