5. CARING FOR YOURSELF AS A FINANCIAL COUNSELLOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Benstead has an honours degree in Psychology from the University of Western Australia, and has worked as a financial counsellor at the City of Wanneroo for 3 years. Helen has been Chairperson of FCAWA and has also been on the management committee of the Financial Counsellors Resource Project.

Contents

5.1       THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF CARE

5.2       STRESS MANAGEMENT

5.2.1   STRESS AND PERFORMANCE

5.2.2   RECOGNISING STRESS

               Physical Signs

               Psychological/Emotional Signs

5.2.3   COMMON SOURCES OF STRESS CHECKLIST

                Job related source of stress

                Personal Sources of Stress

5.2.4   STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

                Managing Stress

                Temporary Stress Reduction Techniques

                Developing Resilience

                Eliminating Stressors

5.3      TIME MANAGEMENT

5.3.1   TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

                Time management matrix

5.3.2   CASELOAD GUIDELINES

5.4       DEVELOPING NETWORKS

5.4.1   PROFESSIONAL AND PEAK BODY SUPPORT

                Financial Counsellors Association of Western Australia

                Financial Counsellors Resource Project

                Commonwealth Financial Counselling Program Resource Worker

               Western Australian Council of Social Services (WACOSS)

               Australian Financial Counselling and Credit Reform Association

               Australian Social Workers Assoc, Australian Psychologists Society

5.4.2   LOCAL NETWORKS

5.4.3   STATE AND NATIONAL NETWORKS

5.5       AGENCY SUPPORT

5.5.1   SUPERVISION

5.5.2   TEAM WORK

5.5.3   SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

5.6       REFERENCES

5.1 THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF CARE

Financial counselling is a caring profession. Most financial counsellors are counsellors because they care. The personality trait that makes a good financial counsellor is also the trait that makes the financial counsellor vulnerable. When you ‘walk beside’ your client offering empathy and options it can be very draining and stressful. To ensure that the burden of caring for others doesn’t become too much it is important to care for yourself also. Most of this chapter focuses on practical methods of reducing stress and the risk of burnout.

5.2 STRESS MANAGEMENT

What is stress? Your physical and emotional  reaction to situations that frighten,  confuse, stimulate or excite you.

   Stress is a fact of life and financial counsellors need to be aware of stress and how it is effecting them. This means being aware of behaviour changes both in the workplace and at home, identifying possible causes and deciding what, if anything, you want to do about it.

What is burnout? When stressors effect you to the  extent that you are no longer effective    in your job.

5.2.1 STRESS AND PERFORMANCE

It has always been recognised that a certain level of stress produces optimal performance, but that too much stress or prolonged stress reduces performance. Prolonged levels of high stress may ultimately result in burnout, which not only effects the service which we provide to clients but has an impact on ourselves and our families. Excessive stress also contributes to health problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lowered resistance to disease, dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, indigestion, tiredness and heart palpitations. Long term stress can cause forgetfulness, depression, insomnia and clumsiness (Henderson, 1996). It is important, both in the short and long term, that financial counsellors develop methods of coping with stress and stressors.

5.2.2 RECOGNISING STRESS

It is important to identify when you are stressed so you can identify the source of the stress and then decide what you want to do. Identifying when you are stressed means looking for signs and symptoms of stress, and these can be physical, emotional or psychological and may vary from person to person. Bailey (1985) provides the following list of signs and symptoms associated with stress, and it may be useful to see if any apply.

PHYSICAL SIGNS

 Feelings of exhaustion and fatigue,

 unable to shake off lingering colds, bronchial complaints,

 headaches,

 gastrointestinal disturbances,

 sleeplessness,

 shortness of breath,

 skin complaints, and/or

 general aches and pains.

PSYCHOLOGICAL/EMOTIONAL SIGNS

 Touchy and irritable,

 easily moved to tears,

 apparently unprovoked outbursts of temper,

 marked sadness,

 screaming and shouting,

 unwarranted suspicion and paranoia,

 avoiding commitments to caring, and/or

 feeling of lethargy.

 

When looking at behaviours that suggest stress, it is important to look for changes in behaviour. If you have always felt lethargic, it may not be stress related. The monitoring and analysis of behaviour changes, especially those behaviours associated with stress and self knowledge, are essential when recognising stress.

Once the level of stress has been identified, it is important to identify the source of stress. Farber (1983) states that nearly all human services professionals (and financial counsellors are included) experience long hours, isolation, lack of autonomy, client “neediness”, public misunderstanding of the nature of their work, insufficient resources, inadequate job training, administrative indifference to or interference with their work. He also states that there are 3 main role stressors associated with working in an organisation:

Role ambiguity

Role ambiguity is a lack of clarity of workers rights, responsibilities, methods, goals, status and/or accountability.

Role conflict

Role conflict is when inconsistent, incompatible or inappropriate demands are placed on the worker. That is, you’re told to do things that you do not perceive as your work role, or your ethics and values conflict with a supervisor or employers, or office politics, competition and territorial disputes interfere with you doing your job.

Role overload

Role overload is excessive workload.

Most financial counsellors will be able to identify with some of the issues above, if not all.

Not all stress comes from work though, and the list of work stressors above is not comprehensive. There are several other types of checklists and scales which list possible sources of stress in a person‘s life. Below is a list adapted from Newman (1992) and it may be useful check off those items which are stressful to you.

5.2.3 COMMON SOURCES OF STRESS CHECKLIST

FAMILY RELATED SOURCES OF STRESS

 Unsatisfying relationship with a family member,

 difficulty communicating with a family member,

 lack of time with family,

 health problems of a family member,

 drug or alcohol addiction of a family member,

 separation, divorce, relationship problems with partner,

 social or school problems of a family member,

 death of a family member,

 change in residence,

 financial problems, and/or

 challenges of parenthood.

JOB RELATED SOURCE OF STRESS

 Poor relationship with boss,

 workload too heavy or too light,

 time pressure, deadlines, rapid pace of the work,

 lack of direction (no clear role or expectations),

 conflicts in expectations, values, ethics, personalities,

 uncertainty of job security,

 lack of feedback regarding performance,

 lack of support,

 poor communication,

 little or no sense of accomplishment/making a meaningful contribution,

 demands for higher productivity,

 inadequate workspace or equipment,

 workaholic bosses,

 meetings,

 distracting noise,

 poor personal performance,

 information overload,

 new job responsibilities,

 budget cuts,

 commuting,

 poor quality of work done by others,

 change,

 under staffing,

 politics, bureaucracy,

 incompetent or unmotivated people,

 increase demand for services, and/or

 pressure for numbers, emphasis on quantity and/or speed.

PERSONAL SOURCES OF STRESS

 Low self esteem,

 negative thinking,

 low frustration tolerance,

 inability to deal with emotions,

 excessive competitiveness,

 being a perfectionist,

 health problems,

 drug or alcohol addiction,

 unclear personal values, long range goals or plans,

 difficulty adjusting to a major disappointment,

 difficulty being assertive,

 communication difficulties,

 not in the right job,

 not managing time effectively, and/or

 excessive behaviour (overeating, overdrinking, overworking).

While the list provides potential sources of stress, it is important to remember that the level of stress caused by each event may vary from person to person. This is because the events themselves aren’t stressful, it is the interpretation of the event that induces stress. For example, some financial counsellors may find doing outreach stressful because of the amount of travel and the time wasted in getting to and from the outreach centre. Other financial counsellors may find outreach reduces stress and provides a chance to unwind out of the office while driving, to reflect and think of issues, and the challenge of a change in environment may stimulate greater interest in their work. For other financial counsellors outreach may be neither stressful nor stress reducing.

While this chapter focuses on identifying and managing job and workplace stressors, the stress management techniques discussed work with all stress, regardless of the cause.

5.2.4 STRESS MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

There are three accepted ways of dealing with stress. The first is to eliminate the stressor. This is a permanent stress reduction technique and by far the most effective method. It is impossible (and undesirable) to eliminate all the stressors in life. The second method is to develop what is called resilience. Resilience is associated with balancing the various factors in a person‘s life, such as work, recreation, exercise and diet, so that a person is better able to cope with stress. Lastly, stress reduction techniques such as relaxation techniques and deep breathing are becoming popular as ways to temporarily cope with stressors and maintain balance.

MANAGING STRESS

Strategy	Effect	Time Required
eliminate stressor	permanent	long
develop resilience strategies	long term	moderate
learn temporary stress reduction techniques	short term	immediate

TEMPORARY STRESS REDUCTION TECHNIQUES

There are many techniques used for relaxation and temporary stress reduction, and some of them are listed and briefly explained below. The Financial Counsellors Resource Project stocks several books which provide more information.

Reframing

Involves optimistically redefining a situation as manageable. “I understand this situation.” “In the long run this isn’t so critical.” “Others have faced similar situations and managed.”

Muscle Relaxation

Stress produces certain physiological responses, but this is not a one way system. By reducing the physiological responses, we can often reduce the stress felt. One of the techniques used to reduce/control the physiological response is progressive muscle relaxation. This involves consciously tensing and then relaxing each muscle group in the body progressively.

For example, close your eyes and tighten all the muscles in your left hand. Feel the muscles tense and tighten. Hold for a few seconds and then relax. Now tense your forearm muscles, hold and release. Usually this involves working your way from your head to your toes using each muscle group in the body. Books, tapes and CDs describing the method in more depth or “walking” you through the process are available from libraries.

Deep Breathing

This is another technique used to reduce the physiological response to stress, and works by providing additional oxygen to your muscles, allowing them to relax. Typically the first muscles to tighten are those around the head and neck and deep breathing may provide a measure of immediate relief.

Imagery

Allows the mind to change focus, temporarily eliminating stress. This can be unstructured or structured. Unstructured imagery includes looking out the window and daydreaming. Structured imagery involves visualisation techniques which take you to a quiet, calm place. Books, cassette tapes and CDs which provide more detail regarding visualisation are available from libraries.

Rehearsal

Preparation and practise of what you are going to say or do when giving talks, attending meetings or negotiating with creditors increases confidence and means you are likely to be less stressed.

Worst Outcome Scenario

By asking yourself the question “what is the worst possible outcome” you are able to step back from the problem and see if it is really worth all the stress it has created. Remember that stress is perception based.

DEVELOPING RESILIENCE

Resilience refers to being able to cope with stressful events. This refers to both perception of events, and effect of events. The two main parts to developing resilience are having a balanced life and being healthy. Having a balanced life involves balancing work, family/friends, self and sleep. There are 168 hours in a week and of these:

 how many hours do you spend sleeping? _______

 working (at work, at home, commuting)? _______

 with your family? _______

 socialising? _______

 by yourself, doing things you enjoy? _______

Being healthy, both physically and mentally, does not mean being fanatical about exercise and diet, but means having some balance. The key word to a healthy lifestyle is moderation – do everything in moderation!

 Eat a variety of food to ensure you are receiving all the vitamins and minerals your body requires.

 Use your eating time to relax (especially at work – don’t make a habit of eating at your desk or in the car while driving to appointments).

 Try to maintain optimal body weight.

 Indulge in moderate exercise with activities you enjoy (walking, cycling, dancing, swimming).

 Be moderate in your intake of alcohol and caffeine – both reduce the body‘s levels of vitamin B which is important for coping with stress. (The Alcohol and Drug Authority recommend no more than 2 standard alcoholic drinks for women or 4 for men per day – and you can’t accumulate the drinks!)

ELIMINATING STRESSORS

To eliminate a stressor requires that the stressor is changed, or your perception of the stressor is changed. Often it is a mix of both. The elimination of a stressor requires the use of problem solving techniques – first, identify the stressor, decide whether it is possible or appropriate to eliminate the stressor, then think of ways to do this and lastly, select the idea most likely to succeed and put it into action. If your first choice doesn’t work, try again.

Recalling Farber and Newman‘s lists of workplace stressors, many are related to unclear job roles and boundaries. It is important that you clarify your role and establish strong professional boundaries, as this may reduce stress considerably. The role of financial counsellors is discussed in Chapter 3, and details should be provided by job descriptions. Professional boundaries are discussed in Chapter 4.

Another common source of workplace stress is the actual workplace. Not everyone will have an ideal workplace, with all the resources wanted and support staff. But if reality is so far from the ideal that the worker is unable to work properly changes are necessary and problem solving techniques should be used to establish ways of making change. For example, if you are constantly being interrupted because you have no reception area and clients can access your office from the street, think of things to stop interruptions such as closing the office for 1/2 or 1 day a week so you can do paperwork, putting up a partition, reducing the number of hours the office is open to the public or locking the door if you are interviewing.

5.3 TIME MANAGEMENT

A major cause of stress is the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish what we have to do. This is especially so with financial counselling taking into consideration time for unscheduled emergencies and the need to research/think/reflect. Time management is not only about planning your day and schedules, but is directly related to managing yourself. Smith (in Quinn, 1985) argues “that everything starts with governing values. If you set goals that aren’t aligned with your values, you may accomplish a great deal but you won’t ever be satisfied because you’ll be neglecting the things that matter the most to you. By the same token, if you create a daily task list that doesn’t reflect your long range and intermediate goals you’ll be busy but not productive.”

daily tasks intermediate goals long term goals personal governing values

 

Smith’s Productivity Pyramid (above) demonstrates that underlying our daily tasks are our intermediate and long term goals, and underpinning everything are our personal governing values. As no one has the time or resources to accomplish all they want to, priorities are made. These priorities reflect our intermediate and long term goals, which reflect our personal governing values. When we work in accord with our personal governing values, we have no inner conflict or resulting stress and we tend to work more effectively. While this chapter focuses on workplace time management, managing your whole time including personal time, is important. If you are struggling to manage all the things you need to do outside work, then you may become stressed and your quality of life may suffer.

5.3.1 TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

In order to manage your time effectively, you need to know how you currently spend your time, and the only reliable way to find this out is to record what tasks you do and how long each task takes over a period of time (usually a week). This provides you with information on exactly what you are doing with your time, and also on what is not being done! You can then divide your tasks into important and not important, urgent and not urgent. Effective time management means focusing on the importance of tasks, not just the urgency. The time management matrix below shows how tasks can be divided based on the importance and urgency of the tasks.

TIME MANAGEMENT MATRIX

	HIGH IMPORTANCE	LOW IMPORTANCE
URGENT	e.g. client crisis	e.g. some client crises, some meetings, telephone
NOT URGENT	e.g. reports, appointments, mail, some meetings	e.g. escapes, filing minutes from meetings

The importance and urgency of tasks may vary from agency to agency and person to person. To determine level of urgency, ask yourself what would happen if you didn’t do the task for a week? Level of importance is a personal decision, but remember that not everything is of high importance. If you find that most of your time is spent on tasks in the urgent/important category, it means you are in a constant state of reaction. This is not good – try and establish why you spend most time there, and utilise problem solving methods to change it. If you spend a lot of time on unimportant or unnecessary tasks then you obviously have less time for important tasks. Look at the tasks, and try to reduce the time spent on these tasks. For example, answering the phone often interrupts important work with unimportant or irrelevant queries. If there is no receptionist to take messages for an hour while you complete an important task, then use an answering machine. This way you can judge the urgency of calls and return calls at the most convenient time for you.

No one has the time or resources to do all they want and by categorising tasks, priorities and daily plans can be set. Ideally most time should be spent on important tasks, with some time for the low importance tasks.

Prioritising and planning are the two most important aspects of time management, but there are many other ways in which time management can be improved. Some are listed below:

 list your goals and set your priorities,

 make a daily “to do” list,

 learn to say ―No”,

 do the most important things at your “best” time of day,

 have a list of short (5-10 minute) tasks that can be done during short breaks,

 ask yourself frequently “what is the best use of my time right now?”,

 when possible delegate, and

 utilise resources appropriately. For example, if you are really busy and have to research a legal issue, utilise your networks if its going to be quicker. If you have the time, do the reading of resources.

5.3.2 CASELOAD GUIDELINES

The Australian Financial Counselling and Credit Reform Association (AFCCRA), in its Guidelines for the Expansion of the Commonwealth Financial Counselling Program (July 1995) suggests that services with one financial counsellor with administrative and receptionist support have a maximum 10 casework appointments per week. This allows time for follow up work, letter writing, answering the phone, completing statistical requirements and basically providing a quality service to the community you work with. It is a guide only and the caseload will depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to:

 level of administrative support – financial counsellors who are responsible for administrative tasks such as bookkeeping, budgets, typing, reports, and/or responsible for reception duties may have less time available for casework,

 experience of worker – less experienced workers may need more time to research and ensure they are covering all the options available to clients, and to be aware of all resources in an area,

 complexity of cases – if complex cases are becoming more frequent it is important to reduce the caseload to ensure you deal with each case effectively, and

 position requirements – if the financial counsellor is also expected to leave time for emergencies, see walk-in clients, conduct community education, then their caseload should be reduced to free up time for these activities.

Your funding agreement may stipulate your casework requirements. It is strongly recommended that if your employers are promising unrealistic casework figures, then this be discussed with your supervisors. You may need to check what is considered a casework appointment as opposed to a contact and you may have to point out the legal implications of negligence. If required, support from the FCAWA (see Professional and Peak Body Support below) should be sought to discuss issues with your employers and if they continue to be unrealistic, possibly discuss with the funding body that the funding agreement be made realistic.

5.4 DEVELOPING NETWORKS

We cannot “do it alone”. Formal and informal networks of social and professional resources are necessary to help workers cope with stress, keep up to date with available resources and inform and analyse change. Informal networks are those that take place during coffee breaks, lunch, or before and after meetings. These networks provide opportunities for gossiping, mutual moaning and general ventilation of feelings. They also provide the opportunity to bounce ideas off someone else, and to discuss casework and professional issues in an informal, confidential manner. More formal networks are usually formed to assist the worker to cope with professional demands. These networks include professional and peak bodies, local and regional networks, formal support systems with colleagues and groups specifically formed for stress management and resource provision.

5.4.1 PROFESSIONAL AND PEAK BODY SUPPORT

Financial counsellors have a range of professional and peak bodies to provide support. The support can be in the form of professional resources and support, information regarding realistic expectations and job role, networks of other financial counsellors who may be able to provide practical support and information, and formalised training to enable you to work confidently and competently.

FINANCIAL COUNSELLORS ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

The Association is the peak body for financial counsellors and is discussed in greater depth in Chapter 3. With regard to networks and support, FCAWA is a voice for all financial counsellors to express, discuss and clarify, or address their concerns with regards job role, funding issues, and policy and practices of various government and non-government agencies. The Financial Counsellors Association of WA is also able to provide financial counsellors with a forum/voice to express their views on systemic issues which effect the client group. For example, input into government and non-government policies and practices.

FINANCIAL COUNSELLORS RESOURCE PROJECT

The Financial Counsellors Resource Project provides support and a variety of different resources for financial counsellors. These resources include access to a lawyer for legal information, a comprehensive resource library, a regular newsletter advising of issues and changes effecting financial counsellors and the client group and a register of relief workers.

COMMONWEALTH FINANCIAL COUNSELLING PROGRAM RESOURCE WORKER

Provides support to Commonwealth funded financial counsellors and distributes a bi-monthly newsletter.

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SERVICES (WACOSS)

WACOSS is a peak body which provides financial counsellors with another mechanism for addressing concerns regarding the policies and practices of government and non-government groups. WACOSS tries to represent the views of a wider group than financial counsellors, but usually the views coincide.

AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COUNSELLING AND CREDIT REFORM ASSOCIATION (AFCCRA)

AFCCRA is the national peak body for financial counsellors and credit reform lawyers and support workers in Australia. AFCCRA promotes the role of financial counsellors and advocates and promotes law reform in the area of credit and debt.

AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL WORKERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS SOCIETY

These are bodies that provide professional support and development to qualified social workers and psychologists. While not appropriate for all financial counsellors, they can be a useful resource for information, support and training.

5.4.2 LOCAL NETWORKS

It is important to establish networks within your local community to provide immediate support and knowledge/information regarding local services and resources. When first starting in a position, financial counsellors should familiarise themselves with the all the resources available. The best way of doing this is through established local networks – attend meetings! After establishing yourself and your agency you can become more selective in the meetings you attend, but some contact needs to be maintained. This is especially so in country regions with more limited local resources, and networks that are often spread over a much wider area.

Local networks can be either formal or informal, and it is important to identify your needs – emotional or professional support, local action group or support group – and then utilise networks or establish networks to meet these needs.

5.4.3 STATE AND NATIONAL NETWORKS

By necessity state and national networks are generally more formal than local networks. In addition to the peak and professional bodies listed earlier and the other resources listed in Chapter 33, there are a variety of other specialist and generalist agencies and individuals that can form part of a financial counsellor‘s network. These include:

 other financial counsellors,

 legal services, including Legal Aid Commission of WA, community legal centres, the Consumer Credit Legal Service, other specialist legal advice services and individual lawyers (most usually at the local network level), and

 migrant resource centres and ethnic community groups.

5.5 AGENCY SUPPORT

Financial counsellors all work within an agency of some description. This varies from one person agencies to large organisations with hundreds of employees. Management of each service also varies from management committees made of local community members (often with limited skills in management) to organisations with a corporate structure. Regardless of the size and management structure there are several supports that should be provided for a financial counsellor. This includes such things as position descriptions, policies and procedures, complaints procedures/grievance procedures and job appraisals.

5.5.1 SUPERVISION

Supervision is intended to be a support mechanism to assist financial counsellors to reflect on and review work issues. By necessity supervision may not always be a formal, regular structure, but some form of supervision to ensure that a financial counsellor is able to discuss issues that are effecting them, is important. These issues include casework issues, management and workplace issues, professional and ethical issues, professional boundaries and can also include personal issues that are impacting on the financial counsellor‘s work.

Formal supervision may consist of regular meetings with another professional who may offer advice and support. The professional may not be a financial counsellor, but may be able to identify where/when boundaries are blurred, discuss sources of further information/knowledge, and assist with problem solving by providing ideas and support.

Less formal supervision may involve all of the above, but may not be regular and may only occur when a specific issue arises. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable about calling for support, but remember that reviewing and discussing issues is a best practices standard.

5.5.2 TEAM WORK

“Team work is individuals working together to accomplish more than they could on their own” according to Woodcock (in McDerment 1988). Working in a team can be a source of support or of stress and there are some guidelines to effective team work. These guidelines also help to distinguish between teams, networks and staff meetings. To ensure that a team is actually working together there are several areas that need to be satisfactory.

Clear team objective/s and goal/s

Without clear objectives and goals, members of a team may not all be working towards the same end, and will definitely not be accomplishing all that could be accomplished.

Team members should have clear roles and responsibilities that are interdependent

One reason for a team is to have people with different abilities, skills and knowledge work together to help achieve a common goal. Having clear roles and responsibilities allows everyone to know who can do what, and how they can contribute.

Communication structure that fosters information sharing

Without a willingness to share ideas and listen to others ideas, the different abilities, skills and knowledge of team members are useless. A sense of trust and a communication structure that allows people to raise ideas and discuss both the good and poor points of an idea is required.

Leadership

The role of team leader may vary with the objective and goals of a team, but someone telling others what to do is not a team leader as this is not a team. Team leaders often guide and focus the team, but are not dictators.

Regular review

Regular occasions when the team meets to evaluate their achievements and performance. This is the time to review not only the goals of the team, but also the team process. It is also useful for the training and growth of respective team members to be reviewed.

5.5.3 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

Financial counselling covers a large range of issues and problems, and financial counsellors require a wide range of knowledge and skills. No one is expected to have all the skills necessary to deal with all the issues that are presented to a financial counsellor. What is expected is that financial counsellors will recognise those areas of their job where skill development is needed, (and this may be for all financial counsellors, whether new or with 20 years experience) and then find ways and methods to develop those skills.

Formal training sessions are one method. The Financial Counsellors Association of WA provides regular training sessions at general meetings and the annual conference and training week. The Western Australian Council of Social Services and the Community Skills Training Centre provide industry relevant training, as do professional bodies such as the Australian Social Workers Association.

Less formal but equally effective in developing skills is assistance with a particular case. Many of the specialist agencies are more than happy to assist a worker with a case step by step. This includes the community legal centres, migrant resource centres, the Financial Counsellors Resource Project, and colleagues more experienced in a specific area. Supervisors and networks are also useful for developing and practising skills.

There is also a need to read and research. Financial counsellors work in a field with constantly changing rules and regulations and it is important to keep skills and knowledge up to date. Remember though, you may still have to refer clients who present with issues that are not your job role to deal with or where you do not have adequate skills.

5.6 REFERENCES

Farber, B.A. (1983). Stress and Burnout – in the human service professions. Pergamon Press. Sydney.

Henderson, L. (1996). Slow down, take a deep breath RELAX. Gore and Osment Publications: New South Wales.

McDerment, L.. (1988). Stress – care. Social Care Association. Surrrey, UK.

Quinn, R.E., Faerman, S.R., Thompson, M.P. and McGrath M.R. (1996). Becoming a master manager – A competency framework, 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York.