Supervisee wellbeing plan example

To be developed, and reviewed every six months, during formal supervision.

Prioritising our wellbeing does not just happen, especially for those in the ‘helping’ professions. It needs to be planned for. A wellbeing plan is a list if things we can do to regulate our emotions and soothe our nervous systems when feeling overwhelmed. They focus on self and collective care.

Safety includes physical, psychological, social and moral elements. For our brains to think rationally and remain regulated, we need to feel sufficiently safe with each other and safe within our organisations. This means we need to use a whole-of-organisation trauma- and violence-informed wellbeing focus.

Supervisee wellbeing plans reinforce that:

• vicarious trauma and work-related stress are normal and to be expected
• we can learn to regulate our emotions and it is okay and important to seek the support of others
• we need longer-term self-care plans to deal with cumulative impacts of the work.

When I don’t take good care of myself, I notice the following impacts on my life, health, relationships and work:

When I take good care of myself, I notice the following impacts on my life, health, relationships and work:

Identify which emotions are most difficult to manage for you (note that there are often other emotions underneath anger, such as sadness, shame and frustration):

Identify what types of situations are likely to lead to emotions you identified (such as being ignored, being asked to do more than your share etc.):

Identify the signs that you or those around you notice when your emotions are becoming overwhelming (such as being tearful, fidgeting, pacing, talking fast, becoming irritable):

Identify five things you can do to help keep yourself regulated. This can include seeking support from other people and needs to include two things you can do on your own without leaving the physical space you are in (such as deep breathing, squeezing your hands, using a special mantra, or telling yourself to calm down):

Who can you ‘howl at the moon’^[1] with, who won’t call a mental health check, pathologise you or try to rescue you from this work?’

The following people, places or activities help ground me and bring me comfort:

Identify five strategies for self-care and state how frequently you will do these. These can be separate to work. Note that exercise is one of the best ways to break down the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline:

Adapted from Safety Plans by Sandra Bloom^[2] and Self-care plans by Jenny Dwyer^[3]