Wellness: Self and Professional Practice

Curriculum Guideline

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Course
CSSW 1221
Discontinued
No
Course Code
CSSW 1221
Descriptive
Wellness: Self and Professional Practice
Department
Community Social Service Work
Faculty
Applied Community Studies
Credits
1.50
Start Date
End Term
Not Specified
PLAR
Yes
Semester Length
Flexible delivery ranging over 2 to 15 weeks
Max Class Size
30
Contact Hours
30 hours: Lecture/Discussion
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Learning Activities
  • Lecture
  • Experiential classroom activities
  • Group presentations
  • Guest speakers
  • Audio-visual presentations
Course Description
This course emphasizes a developmental approach to self-care and self-awareness in professional practice. It provides students with a framework to explore and apply wellness themes. Strategies to prevent and manage workload stress will be explored. Students will learn to use reflective writing as a tool for personal wellness and professional practice.
Course Content

The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

  • Maintenance of personal wellness is an essential component of competent human services practice.
  • A state of wellness (or lack of) influences the ability to deliver services to others.
  • Wellness involves self-awareness, values clarification and self-responsibility.
  • Wellness includes team building, collaborating and decision-making.
  • One builds a sense of wellness from reflective practice that integrates the theories of wellness into professional role.
  • On-going practice of wellness sustains vitality for continued work in the profession.
Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, within the following content areas, the student will be able to:

  1. Wellness and Self Care
    • integrate basic self care into daily life
    • demonstrate understanding of wellness as an important aspect of social service work
    • design a personal wellness plan, including stress management
  2. Reflective writing skills
    • demonstrate reflective writing skills
  3. Prevention of burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma
    • identify the risks of burnout, compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma for social service workers
    • explore strategies for preventing  burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma
  4. Educational presentation on wellness topic
    • demonstrate ability to collaborate in the design and delivery of an educational presentation
  5. Self-awareness and boundaries
    • demonstrate understanding of personal and professional boundaries
    • demonstrate understanding of self-awareness at it relates to professional practice
Means of Assessment

This course will conform to Douglas College policy regarding the number and weighting of evaluations. Typical means of evaluation would include a combination of:

  • Personal Wellness Plan                           
  • Participation
  • Group Presentation                  
  • Self-evaluation

This is a mastery/non-mastery graded course.

Textbook Materials

TBA