If you’re in a helping profession, chances are you’ve felt it. The quiet exhaustion at the end of a long day. The heaviness you carry home. The sense that even when you’ve given everything you have, it doesn’t feel like enough.
Right now, conversations about self-care for helping professionals feel especially urgent. Counselors are navigating rising mental health needs. Teachers are supporting students through academic and emotional gaps. Healthcare workers are stretched thin. Ministry leaders, nonprofit staff, managers, and parents are all carrying visible and invisible loads.
As counselor educators and practitioners, faculty from Bethel University’s Master of Arts (M.A.) in Counseling program regularly walk alongside individuals in these roles.
“We know that to ‘equip the whole person,’ we must prioritize the health of the spirit and the mind alongside the rigors of the classroom. By fostering a culture where it’s okay to set boundaries and seek rest, we aren’t just helping our community succeed today—we are preparing them for lifelong service that is sustainable, joyful, and healthy,” says Amy Evans, director and professor for Bethel’s M.A. in Counseling program and the addiction studies certificates.
Here’s why sustainable self-care is crucial right now, and a few simple ways you can maintain your long-term emotional wellness.
Why self-care is essential for helping professionals
Helping work is meaningful. It is also demanding.
The weight of emotional labor
When your role requires empathy and presence, you are constantly regulating your own emotions while responding to someone else’s. Over time, that can lead to:
- Chronic fatigue
- Irritability or emotional numbness
- Difficulty concentrating
- Reduced sense of accomplishment
- Cynicism or detachment
These are early signs of burnout, and if left unaddressed, they can grow into deeper emotional depletion.
Burnout and compassion fatigue
Both burnout and compassion fatigue are common in caregiving and service-oriented professions.
- Burnout: A state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress.
- Compassion fatigue: The emotional residue or strain from exposure to others’ suffering.
When mental health self-care is neglected, helpers begin to disconnect—from their work, from others, and even from themselves. The passion that once fueled their calling can start to dim.
“It’s rarely a sudden ‘crash.’ At Bethel, we talk about equipping the whole person, but sometimes we try to run that ‘whole person’ on empty. Whether you’re a student balancing academics, a parent supporting a family, or a professional in a high-pressure role, burnout happens when we overextend ourselves until our internal battery keeps draining before we can get it recharged. Or it even stops holding a charge.” —Amy Evans, director and professor, Bethel’s M.A. in Counseling program
Common myths about self-care
Many helping professionals struggle with self-care—not because they don’t believe in it, but because they’ve absorbed unhelpful messages about what it means.
“Self-care is selfish.”
If your identity is rooted in serving others, caring for yourself can feel indulgent, but you cannot sustainably pour out what you do not replenish.
Healthy self-care allows you to continue showing up with integrity and compassion.
“Self-care is indulgent.”
Self-care isn’t just spa days, vacations, or expensive routines. While those can be restorative, sustainable self-care is often simple and unglamorous:
- Getting enough sleep
- Setting a boundary
- Saying no
- Taking a full lunch break
- Turning off notifications
“I’ll focus on it later.”
Many professionals postpone self-care until a crisis hits—a health scare, a conflict, or complete exhaustion. But preventing burnout requires small, consistent practices before you reach the breaking point.
“We often feel that if we aren’t sacrificing our own well-being, we aren’t ‘all in.’ There’s a fear that if we aren’t stressed, we aren’t working hard enough. But we have to flip that script: You can’t pour from an empty cup. Taking care of yourself is an act of stewardship for the very life God has called you to lead.” —Amy Evans
What healthy self-care actually looks like
True self-care supports the whole person.
1. Emotional self-care
This involves noticing and processing your own feelings—not just your clients’, patients’, or students’.
Practices may include:
- Regular emotional check-ins (“What am I feeling right now?”)
- Personal therapy
- Journaling
- Naming stress before it escalates
2. Physical self-care
Your nervous system carries your stress. Physical practices help regulate it.
- Prioritizing sleep
- Moving your body regularly
- Eating consistently and nutritiously
- Scheduling preventative medical care
3. Relational self-care
Isolation accelerates burnout. Relational self-care means investing in relationships where you are not the helper. Spaces where you can:
- Be known
- Be honest
- Be supported
- Laugh
- Rest emotionally
For many, this may include faith communities, friendships, family, or trusted colleagues.
“At Bethel, we believe in a Christ-guided community. Self-care isn’t a solo mission; we need a community that can remind us to rest when we’re pushing too hard.” —Amy Evans
4. Reflective and values-based self-care
Helping professionals are often driven by purpose. When daily demands disconnect you from your deeper values, fatigue increases.
Consider asking:
- Why did I enter this work?
- What kind of person do I want to be in this role?
- What boundaries would support that vision?
For some, reflective practices may include prayer or quiet contemplation. For others, it may look like time in nature or intentional silence. Sustainable self-care is most effective when it aligns with your core beliefs and calling.
“Our values act as an anchor. When life gets heavy, remembering why we do what we do—our calling—keeps us from drifting into total burnout.” —Amy Evans
Simple practices to start today
You don’t need a full life overhaul. In fact, drastic changes are rarely sustainable. Instead, start small.
1. Practice a daily emotional check-in
At the end of the day, pause and ask:
- What am I carrying right now?
- What belongs to me—and what doesn’t?
Even this brief awareness can prevent accumulated emotional strain.
“Questions you can ask yourself: What tends to drain my battery right now, and what might be one thing I can stop doing that drains me? What recharges my battery, and how can I make sure to incorporate at least one thing into my day today that will help me recharge?”—Amy Evans
2. Create one clear boundary
Choose one manageable boundary this week:
- Stop checking work email after a certain hour
- Shorten one meeting
- Block 15 minutes between appointments
3. Build micro-rest into your day
Instead of waiting for a vacation:
- Take three slow breaths
- Step outside for five minutes
- Drink water without multitasking
4. Schedule one restorative activity
Choose something that restores—not numbs—you:
- A walk
- A meaningful conversation
- Reading for pleasure
- Worship or quiet reflection
“Consider the difference between nourishing and numbing. Short-term coping is usually about ‘escaping.’ It’s temporary and doesn’t ultimately help recharge your battery. Sustainable self-care builds capacity. It’s the walk, the boundary, or the quiet time that actually fills you back up so you can continue to lead a life of impact.” —Amy Evans
Sustainable self-care
Caring for yourself isn’t stepping away from your calling. It’s protecting it. Over time, small, intentional habits can create emotional sustainability, allowing you to remain present without becoming overwhelmed.
When you tend to your emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual health, you preserve the capacity to keep showing up—with presence, with compassion, and with integrity. You guard against the slow drift into numbness or cynicism.
Wherever you serve—in a classroom, clinic, church, nonprofit, office, or home—the work you do matters. And so do you!
If you feel called to walk alongside others—but want to do it in a way that’s sustainable—explore Bethel’s M.A. in Counseling Program. You’ll be prepared to care deeply, lead with integrity, and build rhythms that support lifelong impact.
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