Pedagogy 2025
Abstract
Recent news headlines describe a mental health provider shortage in the United States emphasizing the importance of nurturing career sustainability for mental health providers. The National Council for Mental Wellbeing states that nine out of ten behavioral health providers have experienced burnout, and half have considered leaving the profession. Difficulty with retention begins at the education and training level as indicated by the analysis of national graduation and licensure data. Burnout is one of the most cited barriers to obtaining independent licensure. Research shows that self-care prevents burnout among mental health practitioners and their clients. There is little research on how to embed self-care practice in graduate counseling curriculum. This presentation explores ways to augment graduate curricula with motivating and accommodating self-care practice through Expressive Arts Therapies (EAT) built upon the theoretical foundations of the Learning Enrichment Model (LEM) and Student-Centered Learning (SCL). This study explores how EAT with a LEM and SCL theoretical framework can be incorporated into graduate counseling curricula to instill a life-long self-care practice in order to manage burnout by promoting affective expression, stress management, and work-life balance.
Dr. Julie Moreno’s professional journey has focused on the acquisition of knowledge and insight via education, practice, and research in the fields of arts and science to positively impact others as a counselor, art therapist and educator. She is an Assistant Teaching Faculty member in the Counseling and Art Therapy Graduate Programs in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Dr. Moreno has also worked with many populations and institutions as a counselor and art therapist. Her research interests include exploring self-care strategies with practitioners and clients.