Our Approach to Radical Self-Care for Social Workers
Our Approach to Radical Self-Care for Social Workers
In a time of late-stage capitalism, rising authoritarianism, and widespread systems strain, social workers are more necessary, and more overloaded, than ever.
We know this work is important. We also know many social workers are carrying it without the social, structural, and organizational support that would make it sustainable.
Burnout, moral injury, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue have always been risks of this work. Right now, those risks are intensified.
For us, radical self-care means tending to our inner lives and telling the truth about the conditions we’re working in. It’s not a productivity strategy. It’s a values-aligned practice that helps us stay connected to our integrity, our humanity, and our capacity to keep showing up, without losing ourselves in the process.
Our Midweek Grounding Sessions for Social Workers offer space for self-inquiry and care-tending in community. Together, we engage in gentle practices and guided reflection designed to reconnect you to yourself, and to expand what feels possible at personal, professional, and collective levels.
Tenets & Values
Our approach to radical self-care is grounded in three core tenets:
Authenticity
- Self-compassion
- Clarifying and deepening values alignment
- Self-expression and creativity
Boundaries
- Recognizing overextension
- Practicing self-advocacy
- Caring for yourself while caring for others
Power
- Resisting burnout culture
- Naming and unlearning internalized oppression
- Practicing compassionate deconditioning
These tenets are inspired by the work of Pooja Lakshmin and guide the themes, topics, and practices of our Self-Care Sessions.