CPSS Self-Care Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A peer support specialist notices they feel emotionally numb and detached after working with several individuals in crisis this week. This symptom is most consistent with:
- Burnout
- Compassion fatigue
- Secondary traumatic stress (Correct answer)
- Vicarious resilience
Correct answer: Secondary traumatic stress
Secondary traumatic stress involves trauma-like symptoms (including emotional numbing and detachment) that develop from indirect exposure to others' traumatic experiences.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'professional boundaries' as a self-care strategy for peer support specialists?
- Avoiding all personal conversations with peers served
- Maintaining clear limits between professional roles and personal relationships (Correct answer)
- Refusing to share any lived experience with individuals served
- Keeping strict time boundaries by never working overtime
Correct answer: Maintaining clear limits between professional roles and personal relationships
Maintaining clear professional boundaries protects both the peer specialist and the individual served by defining the appropriate scope of the helping relationship.
Question 3: When developing a personal self-care plan, a peer support specialist should FIRST:
- Schedule weekly massage appointments
- Identify personal warning signs of stress (Correct answer)
- Ask a supervisor to create the plan for them
- Copy a colleague's existing self-care plan
Correct answer: Identify personal warning signs of stress
Identifying personal warning signs of stress is the foundation of a self-care plan because it allows the specialist to recognize when intervention is needed.
Question 4: A peer support specialist who uses their own recovery story to cope with difficult days at work is practicing which type of self-care?
- Physical self-care
- Spiritual self-care
- Psychological self-care (Correct answer)
- Social self-care
Correct answer: Psychological self-care
Drawing on one's own recovery narrative to maintain perspective and emotional resilience is a form of psychological self-care.
Question 5: Which workplace practice best supports self-care for peer support specialists?
- Taking work calls during vacation
- Participating in regular clinical supervision (Correct answer)
- Keeping all work concerns private from supervisors
- Maximizing caseload size to serve more people
Correct answer: Participating in regular clinical supervision
Regular clinical supervision provides a structured opportunity to process difficult cases, receive support, and prevent burnout.
Question 6: A peer support specialist feels guilty taking time off because peers in their program need support. The BEST response to this thinking is:
- Cancel vacation plans to remain available
- Recognize that sustainable helping requires personal restoration (Correct answer)
- Ask coworkers to cover without informing the supervisor
- Work remotely during the vacation to compromise
Correct answer: Recognize that sustainable helping requires personal restoration
Recognizing that self-care enables sustainable helping addresses the guilt by reframing rest as a professional responsibility, not a selfish act.
Question 7: Which of the following is an example of a SOCIAL self-care strategy for a peer support specialist?
- Journaling daily thoughts and feelings
- Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
- Connecting regularly with a peer support network (Correct answer)
- Practicing deep breathing exercises
Correct answer: Connecting regularly with a peer support network
Connecting with a peer support network addresses social well-being by fostering relationships and mutual support outside of the work role.
CPSS Self-Care Strategies 2
A peer support specialist notices they feel emotionally numb and detached after working with several individuals in crisis this week.
This symptom is most consistent with: