Keeping Ourselves Well: Strategies for Promoting and Maintaining Counselor Wellness

Experiences and wellbeing of Samaritans crisis line volunteers in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The literature demonstrates that working in a crisis line volunteer role, despite being rewarding, poses a risk of adverse effects on health and additional pressure exists with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, there is limited research on the experiences of such volunteers.

AIMS

This study aimed to explore the experiences of Samaritans volunteers in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby contributing to the overall knowledge of crisis line volunteering, and gaining an understanding of how this role is impacted by the pandemic.

METHOD

A qualitative approach was taken, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteers from Samaritans branches in Ireland (n = 13). Data were then analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four overarching themes were identified: (1) responding to calls in the context of COVID-19, with sub-themes being change in the nature of calls, reliance on existing approach in handling calls and varying emotional responses to calls, (2) sense of loss, with sub-themes being loss of older and vulnerable volunteers, reduced social connectedness and restricted aspects of the service, (3) positive experiences, with sub-themes being supportive culture, new personal skills and perspectives and volunteering as an escape from lockdown and (4) adaptation challenges, with sub-themes being logistical changes and concern for sustainability of the service.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight important insights into the experiences of Samaritans volunteers in Ireland, revealing that the pandemic brought about challenges, but also gave rise to some positive experiences. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the existing literature and recommendations made.

Exploring self-care experiences of school counsellors: A qualitative study

School counsellors are responsible for maintaining their well-being to provide quality service for the students. Self-care activities are the best way to preserve and enhance the well-being of counsellors. In this vein, this study aimed to discover the self-care experiences of school counsellors employing a qualitative approach. Fifteen licensed school counsellors (eight of whom were female) from various schools in Turkey participated in the study. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. The data analysis was carried out with an inductive thematic analysis approach using NVivo 11 software. The results of the study are presented under four interrelated themes which are self-care practices, improved wellness, increased productivity in schools, and barriers to self-care. Findings of the study are discussed based on literature and a number of suggestions are presented for future studies of researchers and practitioners.

Emotional Intelligence and the Counselor: Examining the Relationship of Trait Emotional Intelligence to Counselor Burnout

Given the intimate and emotional nature of counseling, counselors are often highly susceptible to counselor burnout. Scholars have reported on how important it is for counselors to find strategies that mitigate stressful scenarios and prevent burnout. Emotional intelligence could be a preventative factor. This article describes a correlational investigation that examined the relationship of practicing mental health and marriage and family counselors' (N = 539) emotional intelligence to their degree of burnout. The results from this study indicate that participants' level of emotional intelligence negatively predicted their level of burnout (r = −.62, p < .001; 38% of the variance explained). This article provides a description of our findings, suggestions for future research, and implications for counselors.