Lafe Coppola

DISSERTATION TITLE:

Stealing Minutes: A Tri-Study of Reconstructing Self-Care for Mental Health Professionals Using Research As Daily Practice, Case Study, and Grounded Theory

The majority of approaches to self-care in the mental health field revolve around activities that take place outside of the work environment or on supervision and policy level approaches. Using social constructionist and narrative principles, I created, implemented, and studied a series of workshops focused on intra-day approaches to self-care. Using Research As Daily Practice, Case Study, and Grounded Theory approaches I was able to gain insights at each phase of the project and provide richer resources for moving forward with the goal of constructing a new approach to self-care. This study may benefit therapists, educators, and other helping professionals in reducing stress in the workplace through providing simple and effective tools to use with clients, students and others.