Ernesto Gutierrez-Crespo, psychologist, and educator. President of the Asociación de Psicopedagogía de Euskadi and collaborating lecturer at the University of Deusto and the University of the Basque Country.
Educational work with young adolescents is a complex task. If self-care skills are not developed, can this work have a negative impact on health?
Different studies indicate that two out of every five teachers in Spain claim to have experienced emotional distress such as burnout, anxiety, or depression in the last year. No data are known for professionals in the socio-educational field, but they are similar or even higher given that, on many occasions, this group works with young people at risk of social exclusion and in socio-educational environments with many shortcomings, which is not easy for educators to manage emotionally.
There is also an increase in the number of teachers and socio-educational staff seeking psychological support, especially for problems related to anxiety. Hence the importance of developing a lifestyle and self-care guidelines in the emotional sphere. In this workshop we are going to focus especially on the learning of these self-care guidelines.
If education professionals develop emotional self-care skills, is this also positive for their students or for the young people they work with?
Yes, it is. Emotional self-care should not only be understood as a measure of psychological hygiene for the individual, but the benefits that can be generated in the young people with whom they work should also be valued. Among these benefits we can point out the improvement in the quality of the educational relationship, greater efficiency in the work, etc. Let's not forget that educators working with young people are role models for them.
With regard to anxiety and emotional distress, are there differences between men and women working with young people?
Although emotional distress can affect men and women equally, several studies have shown that women educators tend to experience higher levels of stress and burnout, due to different factors such as: a higher workload (both inside and outside their work environment), less consideration of their work, greater difficulties in their professional career due to gender stereotypes... all of which are a source of stress and frustration.
What other factors specific to educational work can be generators of anxiety and emotional distress?
Among these factors we can highlight the high expectations of society towards educational work and suffering situations of verbal or physical violence in educational and socio-educational environments. We must also add the lack of material and human resources to deal with these circumstances, the increasing dedication of time to administrative or bureaucratic tasks that take time away from specifically educational work.
Job instability and the high rate of interim employment also contribute to the feeling of insecurity and precariousness among those who work in educational environments.
This results in deterioration of mental health, increased cases of anxiety, depression and burnout, sick leave, reduced quality of education, difficulties in concentration, lower motivation, and reduced effectiveness in educational and socio-educational work.
What aspects of self-care should be considered to prevent anxiety and discomfort among educational staff?
Self-care encompasses different personal and interpersonal dimensions that will be worked on during the training course. It is very important to identify the causes of anxiety, its origin, and its characteristics. Each person must identify the factors that are influencing emotional discomfort to apply those measures that help to achieve greater emotional well-being.
In the work environment, there are aspects that we cannot modify because they are external to the person, but there are other internal dimensions that we can modify. I am referring, for example, to aspects such as the management of negative thinking, the identification of emotions, as well as adequate interpersonal communication. Learning to develop verbal and non-verbal communication techniques, as well as proper interpersonal conflict management, are very useful tools to achieve and maintain emotional well-being.
It is also important, from a preventive point of view, to learn to develop a personal self-care plan that covers the different dimensions of the person, defining short and long-term goals.
