Caring for Caregivers
Burnout in education affects institutions and students alike. Counselors help students in myriad ways, including managing the stresses of college life, navigating the transition to independent living, and providing crisis help. When students are under duress, on-campus counseling services can make a massive difference in the quality of their lives, but what happens when those counselors need support?
One issue inherent in quality caregiving is its scalability. When stressed, the time required to work things through or achieve some level of stasis differs from person to person and issue to issue. Still, all the same, caregivers only have so many hours in the day. Ways we can better care for caregivers include:
Providing enough time to serve those in need and recover.
Demonstrate support for the services counselors offer.
Employ staff based on student demand and have a resource to aid these folks when demand increases suddenly.
Paying counselors appropriately for the work they do.
Here's an opinion piece from Insider Higher Ed that advocates for changes that care for caregivers on campus to address moral injury experienced by campus counselors:
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