Hi friends,
I have been a child protection worker for the last five years. While the job itself has always been a little stressful, the last year or so has been the absolute worst of my career. I truly fell in love with the field of child protection. However, I recently started therapy and my therapist feels I am demonstrating symptoms of PTSD and burnout. I keep holding out hope that things in the child protection system and support for the workforce is going to get better. However, this job is impacting my marriage, my own emotional and physical health, and I feel like I no longer know who I am outside of social work. I am also struggling with new laws in my state that appear to disregard child safety in favor of parents and what parents want. It does not feel like child protection anymore, if that makes sense.
Do I continue to hold on in the hope that change is coming? Do I cut my losses and put myself first? I would very much appreciate hearing what others think about child protection and your own experiences, including when you knew it was time to be done. Also open to hearing thoughts in general, even if you have never worked in this specific field.