From classroom to real-life practice: A four-stage pathway to internalize self-care in MSW education in China

Abstract Self-care is critical to social workers with consistent emotional labor, while how they recognize self-care and how to utilize its strategies to benefit their well-being is understudied. This study examines how Chinese MSW students internalize self-care ideation and strategies through participating in a curriculum-embedded self-care intervention. An 8-session, curriculum-embedded self-care intervention was designed and facilitated among 116 MSW students using a cluster RCT in China. The intervention was found to be effective in improving participants’ coping and mental well-being. The present article reports the qualitative phase of the study, with semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 participants after the intervention. A four-stage pathway to internalize self-care was identified: (1) Encountering and legitimizing self-care concepts through professional framing; (2) Learning and practicing techniques via structured classroom experiences; (3) Personalizing strategies based on individual preferences and effectiveness; (4) Integrating self-care into professional practice and identity. Interpreted following the transformative learning theory, the four-stage pathway shows how students moved from initial cognitive recognition to revised understandings of self-care as a legitimate and professionally relevant practice. This study contributes to understanding internalization processes in collectivist cultural contexts and informs culturally responsive self-care interventions for emerging social work education systems globally.