Self-Care Retreat for School Social Workers
April 28, 2023
Retreat Description
Self-care is a term that is often used as a solution for the issues of burnout for educators, including school social workers. This retreat will focus on self-care in many facets. As a society, self-care has been turned into an excuse for systems to continue overusing their employees, and not changing the work environments that employees are working in to help create more desirable working conditions. As school social workers, we are fighting for racial justice everyday, yet continue to see the injustices and can often times feel burnt out by this. Fighting this fight can be difficult, but is important work that school social workers need to engage in. Taking care of ourselves is the key in continuing the fight for racial justice. To continue to advocate for others, we also need to advocate for ourselves and the importance of taking care of ourselves. Through this retreat you will learn from Illinois Social Work work faculty and affiliates, different ways to utilize self-care. This retreat will help you heal from the school year, and prepare you for next school year. Click here to view an editorial written by retreat hosts Dr. Kevin Tan and Jenna Mahoney, “Is Self-Care the Answer?”
June 9 and 10, 2023
June 9 | 1:00-6:30pm
June 10 | 8:30am-12:00pm
7.0 CEUs for LCSW/LSW and LCPC/LPC, 2.0 of these CEU hours will cover the cultural competency requirement for licensure
All events held at the School of Social Work building except for Happy Hour (held at The Literary, 122 N Neil St, Champaign)
$70 for CEUs, $35 for no CEUs
Retreat Itinerary
Friday, June 9
12:30pm
Check-in
1:00-2:00pm
Welcome by Kevin Tan, professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work (1 cultural competence CEU)
“Self-Care, Social Justice, and Social-Emotional Learning”
In this introductory session, participants will be introduced to the notion of self-care in the face of challenges around racial justice and pushback against social-emotional learning. Participants will understand the need to consider signs of burnout and compassion fatigue and develop strategies for managing stress and building resilience.
2:00-4:00pm
“Advocating for Our Role as the Ultimate Self-Care” (2 CEUs), presenters Jenna Mahoney, PhD student and Jeni Free, MSW
This session will provide school social workers with the knowledge about a self-care framework specific for social workers and focus on how school social workers can use education about their roles as the ultimate self-care.
4:00-5:00pm
“Zentangle Mindfulness Art” (1 CEU), presenter Kelli Bertram, LCSW
This session will provide a space for School Social Workers and Psychologists to practice mindfulness, get creative, and learn new therapeutic art skills that they can use for themselves or students as a form of self-care. Zentangle is a form of meditative drawing that involves creating structured patterns and designs within a defined space.
5:00-6:30pm
Happy Hour at The Literary (122 N Neil St, Champaign)
Saturday, June 10
8:30-9:00am
Light Breakfast
9:00-11:00am
“Adding Coaching to Your Social Work Toolbox” (2 CEUs), presenter Brenda Lindsey, teaching professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work
Coaching offers new approaches to help social workers and clients maximize their personal and professional potential. It combines elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, motivational interviewing, and leadership development. Coaching differs from traditional mental health clinical therapeutic approaches. While therapy is appropriate for clients with mental health disorders, coaching is proactive and focused on achieving goals to improve personal and professional life balance. Coaching strategies and techniques have been successfully used by social workers in a variety of practice settings including schools, child welfare, health care, substance use, homeless populations, leadership, and workforce
development.
**Brenda will be presenting this session from another location via Zoom, however you will still come to the Social Work building to attend.
11:00am-12:00pm
Closing by Kevin Tan (1 cultural competence CEU)
The closing will build upon Dr. Tan’s opening session, “Self-Care, Social Justice, and Social-Emotional Learning”
**Please note that this event is geared toward School Social Workers and PDH credits will not be available for this event**