Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science (JCBS)
Volume 30, October 2023, Pages 191-202
Authors
Jessica Campoli, Jorden A. Cummings
Abstract
Self-care is aimed at achieving a balance between personal and professional life and supporting and promoting daily functioning. Though self-care is imperative for health and helping professional students given their caregiver responsibilities, training programs offer insufficient focus on self-care, and students' uptake of self-care is low. In the present study, we developed and evaluated a six-session group self-care intervention called Values-Based Self-Care (VBSC), based on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles. Both within-group changes for the intervention group, and group differences between the intervention and waitlist groups, were measured. Significant changes were found for participants who received the intervention on self-care, emotional distress, valued living, and self-esteem occurred. However, when comparing the intervention and waitlist control groups, meaningful differences were only found for self-care, valued living, and depression. This study highlights the need for support and time dedicated to consolidating self-care behaviors into health and helping professional students’ identities.