Wellness & Self-Care for Survivors

Written by Erica Campbell, Guest Blogger

For survivors of interpersonal violence, self-care can feel complicated. When much of your energy has been spent navigating safety, healing, or meeting the needs of others, prioritizing your own wellness may feel unfamiliar or even uncomfortable. Yet caring for yourself is an important part of recovery and long-term well-being. Often, when we picture self-care, we picture bubble baths, spa days, or similar activities. However, self-care can be better defined as taking steps to promote, maintain, and cope with health and life’s challenges (World Health Organization, 2026). 

Wellness Wheel: A Tool for Assessing Overall Wellness Practices

One way to think about self-care is through the lens of overall wellness. Rather than focusing on a single activity, wellness involves several interconnected areas of life. The Wellness Wheel below, adapted from the wheel of wellness formed by Myers et al. (2000), can be a beneficial tool for assessing a person’s current wellness practices and identifying areas for growth.

The Wellness Wheel assesses across seven areas: spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical, social, environmental, and financial. These areas of the wheel consider aspects of wellness, such as:

• Spiritual: How are you implementing the principles and values that guide your life?
• Emotional: How are you caring for your emotional self?
• Intellectual: How are you learning and growing?
• Physical: How are you caring for your body’s physical needs?
• Social: Do you have healthy, supportive relationships?
• Environmental: How am I caring for my local and global environments?
• Financial: How are you managing your finances?

As you review each area, ask yourself: "What am I already doing well?" and "What is one small step I could take to strengthen this area of wellness?"

Enhancing Self-Care Across the Wellness Wheel

After reflecting on wellness across the different areas of your life, you may identify ways to enhance your wellness practices. When seeking to improve wellness practices, it can be helpful to look for wellness practices that cover multiple areas of the wellness wheel model.

These practices could include gardening, hiking, and creative activities. For example, gardening could incorporate the wellness aspects of physical, environmental, emotional, and spiritual. Other ideas for practicing self-care in specific areas could be: 

• Spiritual: Prayer, meditation, attending worship services, or life groups 
• Emotional: Journaling, grounding exercises, or therapy
• Intellectual: Reading, learning something new, or doing puzzles or brain games 
• Physical: Walking, stretching, or getting enough sleep 
• Social: Setting boundaries, spending time with friends, or volunteering 
• Environmental: Time in nature, recycling, or organizing your home 
• Financial: Budgeting, planning for retirement, or paying off debt 

Barriers to Self-Care

Knowing that wellness practices are important is one thing, but putting them into practice can often be difficult. Especially for survivors, there can be many barriers to self-care practices. Emotional or cognitive barriers like feelings of shame or unworthiness and difficulty prioritizing yourself can make it hard to even identify what self-care could look like for you. Other barriers might be a lack of supportive relationships, financial instability, or hypervigilance.

If these or other barriers are relatable, it might be helpful to reflect on what is keeping you from practicing wellness the way you would like and how you might seek support in those areas. It is important to remember that self-care is not all-or-nothing. Small actions can have a meaningful impact. If taking a walk, attending a support group, or setting a boundary feels difficult right now, consider what feels manageable today. Healing often happens through small, consistent steps rather than dramatic changes.

Final Thoughts

Wellness is not about perfection or checking every box on the Wellness Wheel. Instead, it is about noticing your needs and taking intentional steps to care for yourself. By recognizing both your strengths and the barriers you face, you can begin building wellness practices that support healing, resilience, and growth.

References

• Myers, J. E., Sweeney, T. J., & Witmer, J. M. (2000). The Wheel of Wellness Counseling for     Wellness: A Holistic Model for treatment planning. Journal of Counseling &Development, 78(3), 251–266. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01906.x 
• World Health Organization. (2026). Self-care for health and well-being. https://www.who.int/health-topics/self-care#tab=tab_1

About Guest Blogger, Erica Cambell: Erica is a graduate student in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at The Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine with a special interest in trauma recovery, wellness, and self-care. She is passionate about helping survivors recognize their strengths and access tools that support healing and long-term well-being. Through education and advocacy, she aims to promote greater understanding of mental health and the importance of compassionate support.