Self-care practices professional quality of life and challenges exploration among counselors

Introduction This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. - George Bernard Shaw Being a catalyst who brings a positive difference in the growth and health of human life makes the helping profession as a highly rewarding career (Skovholt & Mathison, 2016). The deep sense of gratification of a counselling professional derived out of witnessing the progress of lives which were in despair, confusion, or anguish in a positive direction with more hope, clarity, and contentment is undoubtedly a profoundly humbling experience (Baker, 2003; Radeke & Mahoney, 2000 as cited in Simionato & Simpson, 2017). However, as the wise saying, "There is no gathering the rose, without being pricked by the thorns" (Pilpay, 1872). To effectively meet the demands of the profession in an extremely stressful world, counsellors are often forced to walk that extra mile, sometimes with a crude map in hand (Corey et al., 2018; Skovholt & Mathison, 2016). Continuous exposure to traumatized lives, delicate emotional boundaries, ethical and legal muddles, and extreme tolerance towards ambiguities are all potential threats that can cause 'haemorrhaging of the Caring-Self' of the practitioner (Kierkegaard, Hong & Hong 1983 as cited in Skovholt & Mathison, 2016). Thus the careful adoption of proper self-care strategies to wisely meet the challenges of the profession is increasingly in the spotlight of the recent western literature of counselling (Corey et al., 2018). The current study is a pioneering attempt to glean the current status of counsellors in Kerala in terms of their self-care practices and professional quality of life.