What are the eight dimensions of wellness?
Wellness is a dynamic process that impacts every aspect of our lives, influencing how we feel, think, and engage with the world. When prioritizing wellness, we are better equipped to handle stress, form meaningful connections, and pursue personal growth. When neglected, individuals may experience imbalances that affect both mental and physical health.
The eight dimensions of wellness are physical, emotional, occupational, environmental, social, spiritual, intellectual, and financial (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2016). These wellness dimensions are the aspects of a person's life that make up their overall wellness and are critical factors for mental health therapists to examine when checking on their clients. They help identify what clients need to get to a point where they are happy and satisfied in everyday life.
Here are the eight dimensions of wellness in brief:
- Physical wellness: This aspect focuses on how the client maintains physical health, such as a healthy body through exercises and other physical activities, diet and eating habits, and medical consultations and care.
- Emotional wellness: This concerns the client's ability to express healthy emotional wellness, whether they have healthy relationships, and how they cope with the trials and tribulations that life throws their way. Emotional health plays a significant role in one's personal life.
- Occupational wellness: It revolves around one's ability to find fulfillment, personal satisfaction, and contentment in one's work, maintain a positive work environment, and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
- Environmental wellness: It concerns the client's immediate space and other spaces they happen to occupy. Do they find themselves in safe, comfortable environments? Or do they happen to be in spaces that don't contribute anything positive to their wellness?
- Social wellness: This aspect focuses on the client's ability to build and maintain positive relationships and connections with their family, friends, or new people they meet by circumstance. It also focuses on whether the client belongs in healthy communities and participates in them positively.
- Spiritual wellness: It concerns the client's spiritual well-being and ability to find a sense of purpose in life, meaning for themselves and their actions. Good spiritual health develops a healthy connection with something greater than oneself, whether faith, nature, or something else.
- Intellectual wellness: It has something to do with the client's intellectual health, which includes the client's ability to enjoy learning and engage in mentally stimulating activities that promote critical thinking skills and mental growth.
- Financial wellness: This is the ability to properly make informed decisions about spending, saving, and investing one's hard-earned money. When given attention, it can help an individual successfully manage financial expenses and secure one's financial future.
To properly recognize how a person is doing with these eight dimensions, the worksheet was created to foster a healthy lifestyle.
