by Erlene Grise-Owens, Ed.D., LCSW, MSW, MRE, and Justin “Jay” Miller, PhD, MSW, CSW , co-editors of The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals.
Self Care and Code of Ethics
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW)’s theme for Social Work Month, March 2020, is Generations Strong. This theme celebrates the contributions of social workers past, present, and future. Amidst celebration, the profession is remiss if we don’t also recognize and proactively address the costs of these contributions.
NASW, We Have a Problem
Real Talk: We all know the tolls of our profession. We see historical and personal examples. All of us in the profession have experienced or are currently experiencing negative effects, in some form. These costs are growing by the generation.
Recently, the World Health Organization declared burnout an “occupational phenomenon” and predicts a global pandemic in the next decade. This crisis is particularly evident in social work (and other helping professions). Burnout (along with related considerations, such as vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue) has deleterious systemic effects and threatens the viability of our profession.
NOW Is the Time to Act
As we enter a new decade, the time is NOW for the social work profession to learn from past sacrifices, acknowledge present levels of burnout, and act to ensure a future of social work that prioritizes the well-being of practitioners. This action can take many forms. Specifically, we urge NASW to take a specific, pragmatic action that will have exponential effects for immediate and future generations and, thus, impact the viability of our beloved profession.
Let us be clear: We call on NASW to make self-care and organizational wellness explicit in the NASW Code of Ethics.
In our 2019 Social Work Month blog post, we assessed how the profession is doing a decade after the crucial Policy Statement on Professional Self-Care and Social Work, which NASW published in 2009. We applaud NASW’s leadership in this regard and other steps. For instance, NASW published two books on self-care. The NASW journal Social Work just did a special issue on self-care for the social work profession (which we co-edited).
However, regrettably, the excellent recommendations of the Policy Statement (noted above) did not translate into NASW’s most public and impactful document, the Code of Ethics. The most recent revision of the Code made numerous changes regarding technology, certainly an important consideration impacting the profession now and in the future. We ask NASW to put similar consideration into addressing the glaring need for proactive attention to the future of our profession.
Rationale for an Explicit Ethics Action
Problematic messages - while often implicit or couched in “positive” language - permeate our profession and broader culture: Social workers are super-heroes who sacrifice our well-being for others. Recently, a high-profile politician in Kentucky declared that social workers “selflessly” perform valued roles. On a popular podcast, a physician discussing interdisciplinary teams said they didn’t know exactly what social workers did, but they were “miracle workers.” Other media messages - and within our own profession - declare that social workers give our all, and are “in it for the outcome, not the income.” Narrative from a social work student’s paper crystallizes how social workers internalize this troubling message; she wrote “As a social worker, I must put the client’s needs before my own.”
In cultures that persistently promote self-sacrifice, it’s counter-culture to practice self-care. Repeatedly, across generations, social workers pay the costs in their own well-being, and the profession is the lesser for it. Social workers desperately need our professional organizations (chiefly, NASW) to provide clear and consistent promotion of practitioner well-being. The message needs to be explicit that social workers are to care for self and others - NOT as the Code currently reads “elevate service to others above self-interest” [italics added]. The profession needs explicit direction that self-care is not an extra luxury, but an essential aspect of ethical practice. Actually, providing optimal services requires attention to self-care and promoting practitioner well-being.
The NASW Code of Ethics is a gold standard. Perhaps more than any other profession, practitioners take great pride in the caliber of our Code. As stated in the Preamble, the Code functions as a “guide for everyday professional conduct.” As such, the Code is a primary means of promulgating what professional practice entails. The Code has standards related to the social worker’s accountability to colleagues, practice settings, the profession, society, and “as professionals.” Standard 4.05 addresses impairment and seeking professional help, when needed. But, a standard related to accountability to one’s own well-being is starkly absent. Notably, larger systems’ accountability for supporting practitioner well-being (e.g., organizational wellness) is also missing.
Generations Strong: Learning From Our Past, Acting Now, Creating the Future
A self-care movement is afoot! We envision a future in which burnout is rare and practitioner well-being is normative. Let’s act NOW to ensure that social work is, indeed, a generations-strong profession. Pursuing social justice and enhancing human well-being are primary, complementary purposes of social work. Let’s recognize that we, professionals, are human beings and, thus, our well-being is a matter of social justice, too.
NASW: We call for your leadership. Make self-care and organizational wellness explicit in the Code of Ethics. The time is NOW!
Justin "Jay" Miller and Erlene Grise-Owens in Ireland
Dr. Justin "Jay" Miller and Dr. Erlene Grise-Owens at the 2018 SWSD conference in Dublin, Ireland.
Dr. Erlene Grise-Owens, Ed.D., LCSW, MSW, MRE, is a Partner in The Wellness Group, ETC. This LLC provides evaluation, training, and consultation for organizational wellness and practitioner well-being. Dr. Grise-Owens is lead editor of The A-to-Z Self-Care Handbook for Social Workers and Other Helping Professionals. As a former faculty member and graduate program director, she and a small (but mighty!) group of colleagues implemented an initiative to promote self-care as part of the social work education curriculum. Follow her on Twitter @DrGriseOwens.
Dr. Jay Miller is the Dean, Director of the Self-Care Lab, and Dorothy A. Miller Research Professor in Social Work Education in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. You can follow his work via Twitter @DrJayMiller1.