Self-Care for Those Who Care: Wellbeing for Therapeutic Professionals Working with Children

Working in therapeutic services with children is deeply meaningful, but often deeply demanding. Whether you are a counsellor, psychologist, social worker, or child protection practitioner, your work requires emotional presence, empathy, patience, and resilience. Many professionals walk alongside children who have experienced trauma, neglect, abuse, disability-related barriers, or significant loss. Holding these stories day after day can take a quiet toll.

Self-care in this context is not about indulgence or ‘switching off’ from the realities of the work. It is about sustainability, ethical practice, and protecting the capacity to show up for children with care and consistency over the long term.

Why Self-Care Matters in Therapeutic Child Work

Professionals who work with children are particularly vulnerable to:

• Vicarious trauma from repeated exposure to children’s distress and traumatic narratives
• Compassion fatigue, where empathy becomes depleted over time
• Burnout, marked by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness
• Boundary erosion, especially when practitioners feel responsible for outcomes beyond their control

Self-care is not separate from professional competence; it’s foundational to it. A regulated, supported practitioner is better able to provide attuned, ethical, and trauma-informed care to children.

Reframing Self-Care as Professional Responsibility

In therapeutic work with children, self-care is not optional or secondary. It is part of duty of care to clients, to colleagues, and to oneself. When practitioners are overwhelmed or depleted, it becomes harder to maintain reflective capacity, emotional regulation, and clear boundaries.

A helpful reframe is to view self-care as risk management and best practice, rather than a personal luxury.

Everyday Self-Care Practices for Therapeutic Professionals

Self-care does not need to be elaborate or time-consuming. Small, consistent practices can have a powerful cumulative effect.

1. Emotional and Psychological Care

• Regular supervision: High-quality, reflective supervision is essential, not just for case management, but for emotional processing and meaning-making.
• Peer connection: Informal debriefs with trusted colleagues can reduce isolation and normalise emotional responses.
• Personal therapy: Many practitioners find personal therapy invaluable for maintaining insight, boundaries, and emotional health.

2. Nervous System Regulation

Working with dysregulated children can lead practitioners to unconsciously absorb heightened states of stress. Supporting your nervous system is key.

• Brief grounding or breathing practices between sessions
• Short walks, stretching, or sensory resets during the workday
• Ending the day with a deliberate transition ritual (e.g., changing clothes, journaling, a few minutes of silence)

3. Boundaries That Protect, Not Distance

Healthy boundaries allow practitioners to care deeply without becoming overwhelmed.

• Clear start and finish times where possible
• Limiting after-hours emotional labour
• Being mindful of ‘over-responsibility’ for children’s outcomes
• Remembering that change is often slow and non-linear

Boundaries are not a lack of care, rather, they are what make care sustainable.

4. Physical Self-Care as Emotional Care

The body often carries what words cannot.

• Adequate sleep and hydration
• Nourishing, regular meals during workdays
• Gentle movement that feels supportive rather than punishing
• Paying attention to physical signs of stress (headaches, tension, fatigue)

RELATED: Trauma-Informed Self-Care for Child Sexual Abuse Survivors

Organisational and Team-Based Self-Care

While individual strategies are important, self-care should not rest solely on the practitioner. Organisations working with children also hold responsibility.

Supportive workplaces prioritise:

• Reasonable caseloads and realistic expectations
• Access to quality supervision and professional development
• Trauma-informed leadership and open conversations about wellbeing
• Cultures where taking leave and asking for support is encouraged, not stigmatised

Self-care is most effective when it is embedded into systems, not added on as an afterthought.

When Self-Care Feels Hard or Out of Reach

There are times when practitioners know what would help but feel too depleted to access it. This is not a failure – it’s often a sign that support needs to be strengthened.

If self-care feels impossible, it may be time to:

• Reach out for additional supervision or support
• Review workload or role fit
• Take restorative leave if available
• Reconnect with the values that brought you into this work

Caring for children is not meant to be done at the cost of one’s own wellbeing.

Caring for Yourself Is Caring for Children

Children benefit most from adults who are regulated, supported, and emotionally present. By caring for yourself, you are not stepping away from your professional role, you are honouring it.

Self-care is not about doing more. It is about listening more closely to your body, your emotions, and your limits so you can continue to do this vital work with compassion, clarity, and care.