Key Points:

• Time constraints, guilt, and overcommitment silently sabotage trainee wellness.
• Institutional neglect and societal stigma further hinder self-care practices.
• Cognitive traps like perfectionism make prioritizing self-care harder.
• Cultural expectations can shape attitudes toward self-care.

• Overcoming barriers requires intentional supervision and systemic support.

Self-care is often celebrated in mental health circles—but practicing it consistently during training is another story.

In this second article of our five-part series, we’ll dive into the silent saboteurs—the barriers that undermine counsellors-in-training (CITs) from building sustainable self-care habits—and how supervisors and training programs can begin to dismantle them.

Knowing Isn’t Doing: The Self-Care Paradox

Trainees generally know that self-care is important.

Yet research shows that even when awareness is high, consistent practice is low (Miller, 2022; David & Achempim-ansong, 2021).

Why? Because knowing about self-care is not enough.

Without deliberate structural support, emotional encouragement, and skill-building, even the best intentions collapse under the weight of practicum demands.

Understanding the barriers is the first step to dismantling them.

Barrier 1: Time Starvation

Perhaps the most universal obstacle is the overwhelming time crunch.

Practicum days are often described as “non-stop work,” leaving little margin for personal wellness (David & Achempim-ansong, 2021). Between coursework, client sessions, supervision meetings, and personal obligations, trainees feel there’s simply no time left for activities like mindfulness, exercise, or social connection.

Self-care becomes the first casualty in an overcrowded schedule.

What Can Help:

• Supervisors can normalize micro-self-care—small, 5–10 minute practices integrated into daily routines (e.g., breathing exercises between sessions).
• Training programs can build protected self-care time into practicum schedules.

Barrier 2: Emotional Guilt and Overcommitment

Trainees often feel guilty prioritizing their own needs.

A strong desire to be helpful and meet client needs can morph into overcommitment, with students sacrificing rest, boundaries, and self-reflection.

This emotional guilt stems from:

• Internalized messages that selflessness equals professionalism.
• Fear of being perceived as lazy or incompetent.
• An overidentification with the “helper” role.

What Can Help:

• Supervisors must model boundary setting and explicitly affirm that self-care is part of ethical practice.
• Training modules should address compassion fatigue and ethical self-care head-on.

Barrier 3: Institutional Neglect

While self-care may be talked about, it is rarely modeled, demonstrated, or structurally supported (David & Achempim-ansong, 2021).

When institutions emphasize productivity, grades, and client outcomes without valuing the therapist’s humanity, trainees receive a dangerous message: Your worth is tied to your output.

What Can Help:

• Practicum directors can embed self-care into evaluation metrics.
• Institutions can create self-care policies with real consequences for burnout and impairment.

Barrier 4: Cognitive and Psychological Blocks

Barriers are not always external.

Trainees themselves may struggle internally with:

• Perfectionism: Believing they must perform flawlessly, leaving no room for rest (Nicotera et al., 2023).
• Performance Pressure: Feeling that constant busyness proves dedication.
• Fear of Vulnerability: Viewing self-care as a sign of weakness or lack of resilience.

These cognitive distortions silently sabotage self-care efforts.

What Can Help:

• Psychoeducation on common cognitive traps should be a regular part of supervision.
• Supervisors can normalize vulnerability and model self-compassion.

Barrier 5: Cultural and Societal Expectations

Cultural norms can either support or obstruct self-care.

In some cultures, prioritizing oneself is viewed negatively, seen as selfish or inappropriate. Gender norms may also impose expectations that women, in particular, must prioritize caring for others over themselves (Ayala & Almond, 2018).

What Can Help:

• Training programs must create space for cultural reflections around self-care.
• Supervisors should encourage culturally congruent self-care practices that feel authentic to trainees.

Barrier 6: Financial and Logistical Constraints

Self-care advice often presumes resources:

• Gym memberships
• Yoga classes
• Therapy sessions

But many trainees face significant financial stress, leaving them feeling excluded from typical self-care narratives.

What Can Help:

• Supervisors and programs must promote low-cost or no-cost self-care options (e.g., walking outdoors, free mindfulness apps, journaling).
• Normalize accessible, sustainable self-care.

Barrier 7: Stigma Around Self-Care

Finally, there’s an underlying societal stigma that frames self-care as indulgent or unnecessary.

Trainees may internalize this, dismissing their own needs until burnout becomes inevitable (Mills et al., 2018).

What Can Help:

• Programs can reframe self-care as professional maintenance rather than luxury.
• Faculty can celebrate self-care behaviours the same way they celebrate academic achievements.

Barriers Are Not Excuses

It’s important to be clear:

Barriers explain resistance to self-care; they do not justify it.

Acknowledging barriers empowers programs and supervisors to address them systematically and compassionately—building a culture where self-care is a normalized, essential part of professional identity, not an afterthought.

Self-care does not happen automatically.

It must be taught, modeled, facilitated, and protected.

Otherwise, trainees are left to fight silent saboteurs alone—and that’s a battle many will lose.