Book Review: Healing Justice: Holistic Self-Care for Change Makers

Healing Justice: Holistic Self-Care for Change Makers, by Loretta Pyles, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780190663087, New York, NY, 2018, 256 pages, $34.95.

    Self-care is a frequent topic of discussion with my students. They hear stories of social workers and burnout and express concern for their futures. I work with students individually and incorporate mindfulness-based self-care skills into my classes. I believe this is essential to helping students prepare for successful careers—but by focusing on what the individual student can do, I often feel I am only addressing part of the problem and perpetuating the belief that burnout is the fault of the individual.

    Loretta Pyles’ new book moves beyond that belief by looking at what social workers and other change makers encounter on a daily basis in agencies, organizations, societies, and their own lives, and how these experiences contribute to workers feeling disconnected, ineffective, and dissatisfied. Stress is viewed as a social phenomenon, which calls for systems-based solutions. Pyles writes, “Self-care practice invites practitioners to become skillful in ways to self-soothe in the moment, while healing justice is a practice that summons one to pause longer and stay with what is happening in order to learn about the nature and origins of one’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior patterns in relation to internal and environmental causes and conditions.”

    Pyles draws from numerous sources, including mindfulness, yoga, Ayurveda, neuroscience, and personal experiences to create a framework of healing justice. The framework consists of six capabilities: mindfulness, compassion, critical thinking, curiosity, effort, and equanimity. Developing these capabilities enables workers to more compassionately connect with themselves and with others and thus more effectively work with client systems.

    Pyles’ approach is relationship-based, strengths-based, and empowerment-oriented, making it a good fit for social work practitioners. Rather than viewing self-care as an indulgence, it is seen as a set of actions to resist the oppressive structures, problematic funding sources, and unrealistic expectations that workers regularly encounter.

    This is a book that requires reflection and processing. Each chapter encouraged me to reflect on my practice and my teaching, calling to mind students and colleagues with whom to share what I was learning. The book has much to offer social workers, social work educators, students, and clients.

    Each chapter begins with a case study, which helps the reader examine his or her own experiences. Each chapter ends with real examples of how to apply the information learned.

    Reading the book and completing the “Putting It Into Practice” activities will start the reader on his or her own empowering journey of healing justice practice. Using the book in a class or group setting can provide a supportive environment in which to develop healing justice skills. The book can be a useful tool in supervision, guiding new social workers in establishing holistic self-care strategies to promote long lasting rewarding careers.

Reviewed by Karen Zellmann, MSW, LCSW, BSW Program Coordinator and Associate Professor, Western Illinois University.