Exposure to traumatic experiences routinely may affect the counselor's psychological health. Past studies indicated that experienced counselors tend to use self-talk as one of their psychological self-care strategies to shield themselves from the psychological impact. Self-talk that takes place during crisis intervention was found to benefit in releasing tense emotions. However, in-depth exploration of this practice as a self-care strategy through empirical study is limited. This study was conducted to deeply describe the practice of self-talk among Malaysian counselors who are involved in crisis work by routine. This qualitative research employed descriptive phenomenology as its approach. Ten participants in this study were selected through purposive sampling. The individual in-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed thematically. The findings reveal that Malaysian counselors utilize positive self-talk during crisis interventions for selfcalming and self-reaffirmation, enabling them to maintain their professional roles without being negatively affected by their clients' traumatic experiences, or other third-party remarks. This study introduces a potentially valuable self-talk technique during intervention sessions, reducing the risk of post-traumatic stress resulting from ongoing exposure to traumatic client narratives.

Attentively listening to the clients’ narratives and witnessing their suffering can be emotionally draining for counsellors. Counsellors may start adopting their clients’ thoughts and carrying their emotions, which can affect their belief systems. While the impact of counsellors being exposed to traumatic narratives has been extensively studied in Western countries, this psychological issue has received less attention in Malaysia. This study aims to describe Malaysian counsellors’ experiences with clients' traumatic narratives and the psychological impact of such encounters. Seven Malaysian experienced public service counsellors participated in this study. In-depth, semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with them. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. The results revealed two main themes: the experience of traumatic narrative exposure and the psychological impact. Overall, the participants shared their experiences of working with traumatic cases that involved death and serious injuries to the victims. They also discussed both the positive and negative psychological impacts of these encounters on themselves. The counsellors emphasized that having the knowledge, skills, and supportive supervisors played crucial roles in helping them navigate these challenges. The study underscores the importance of equipping counsellors with specialized training and education on how to handle traumatic narrative exposures effectively, including the need for professional development programs that focus on psychological trauma care and strategies for maintaining counsellors’ mental well-being. These findings could also contribute to the development of policies and guidelines within the Malaysian counselling profession, offering extensive guidelines for self-care, setting limits on caseloads involving traumatic narratives, and defining best practices for managing such cases.