THE SELF CARE WHEEL®

What Is the Self-Care Wheel®?

The Self-Care Wheel, created by Olga Phoenix, is the world’s #1 rated, most searched, downloaded, and utilized self-care tool, used globally by over 10 million people in 80+countries since 2013.

Featured widely in media outlets such as Thrive Global, Popsugar, Positive Psychology, and Sporteluxe, it’s been translated into several languages, and successfully used by millions of individuals and thousands of agencies worldwide to:

restore balance
beat burnout
dramatically boost wellbeing
ignite self-love
and finally start living a rich and fulfilling life

The worldwide self-care revolution began in 2013 with the creation of this simple tool and two of its trusted companions, the Self-Care Wheel Assessment and the Create-Your- Own Self-Care Wheel tools.

This dynamic trio transformed the concept of self-care from an occasional “treat-yourself” model into a basic core component of our lives, a sustainable lifestyle that allows us to feel, be, and live at our very best.

This deeply personalized self-care model that inevitably leads to dramatic improvements in physical and mental wellbeing, more freedom, balance, joy, fulfillment, high quality of life, and feeling and living well. And now, it’s your turn!

As seen on

The Self-Care Wheel® Freebies

The Self-Care Wheel®
3 Tools Download

The Self-Care Wheel®
Videos from Olga Phoenix

Why Is the Self-Care Wheel® #1 Rated Global Framework?

The Self-Care Wheel® is a six-dimensional framework that transforms self-care from a vague idea into a practical roadmap.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and agencies worldwide are saying “YES!” to making their own and their teams’ health, wellbeing, and rich quality of life the #1 priority.

They are seeing incredible results with dramatically improved wellbeing and life satisfaction, more happiness, stronger relationship with self and others. And this is why…

Self-Care Isn’t Common Sense. It’s a Skill That Must Be Learned.

Most people are told to “practice self-care.” Very few are ever taught:

What self-care actually includes
How to personalize it
How to make it realistic and sustainable
How to practice it without guilt, shame, or perfectionism

As a result, self-care becomes overwhelming, inconsistent, performative, or abandoned altogether. The Self-Care Wheel® tools was created to give individuals and professionals a clear, structured, and teachable way to help build self-care skills they can actually use.

What are the Six Dimensions of the Self-Care Wheel®?

The Self-Care Wheel® recognizes that effective self-care is multidimensional, and that focusing on only one area leaves clients vulnerable elsewhere.

🧠 Psychological: thought patterns, stress management, mental health support, and cognitive wellbeing.

❤️ Emotional: emotional awareness, expression, processing, and regulation.

🧘 Physical: sleep, movement, nutrition, health care, and body-based support.

🌿 Spiritual: meaning, values, purpose, inner grounding, and connection (inclusive and non-religious).

👤 Personal: identity, boundaries, joy, rest, relationships, and life outside of roles.

💼 Professional: workload boundaries, role clarity, support systems, and sustainable expectations.

Together, these dimensions offer clients a clear, holistic picture of what self-care actually looks like in real life, not just in theory.

What Does an “Imbalanced” Self-Care Wheel® Actually Mean?

Most people don’t struggle with self-care because they “don’t care.” They struggle because one or two dimensions have been under-supported for a long time — and the body adapts. For example:

When the Professional dimension is overloaded, Physical and Emotional self-care often collapses first.
When Personal needs are neglected (identity, boundaries, joy), clients may over-function in Professional or over-give in relationships.
When Spiritual grounding is missing (meaning, values, purpose), self-care can feel pointless — even when clients “do all the right things.”
When Psychological stress is high, clients often default to survival patterns: avoidance, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or shutdown.

The Wheel helps people see a simple truth-self-care isn’t one behavior, it’s an eco-system. And when one area is consistently depleted, other areas will compensate until something breaks.

That’s why the Self-Care Wheel® is so effective in therapy, coaching, and groups: it helps clients name what’s happening without shame, and choose a realistic starting point.

Why Do Helping Professionals Love the Self-Care Wheel®?

The Self-Care Wheel® is a six-dimensional framework that transforms self-care from a vague idea into a practical, client-friendly roadmap. The framework includes the Self-Care Wheel®, the Self-Care Wheel Assessment®, and the Create Your Own Self-Care Wheel® tools.

Created by Olga Phoenix MPA, MA, an internationally recognized wellbeing and resilience expert, the Self-Care Wheel® has been voted #1 self-care framework and used globally by over 10 million people in 80+countries since 2013. It is especially loved by:

Therapists, counselors, coaches & facilitators
Social service & DV agencies
University counseling centers
Community and recovery programs

It provides professionals with:

A shared language for self-care
A visual framework clients easily understand
A non-judgmental way to assess gaps
A tool that supports insight, choice, and agency

How do helping professionals use the Self-Care Wheel® in 1:1 sessions and groups?

If you’re a therapist, coach, counselor, or group facilitator, the Self-Care Wheel® becomes a client-centered roadmap you can actually work with in session, especially with trauma history, burnout, depression, anxiety, or chronic people-pleasing.

Here are a few of the most effective ways professionals use it:

As a shame-free assessment: clients can point to what’s missing without having to “explain themselves” for 20 minutes.
To create a shared language: instead of vague advice, you and the client can name the exact dimension that’s under-supported.
To reduce overwhelm: the Wheel helps clients see that self-care isn’t one big “fix my life” task — it’s small, specific supports.
To build follow-through: you can help clients choose one realistic step that fits their real life (not their ideal life).
In groups: it gives structure, reflection prompts, and a simple way for participants to create an action plan they’ll actually use.

Want a Step-by-Step Session Method for Using the Self-Care Wheel® (Including Follow-Through)?

The Self-Care Wheel® gives you a powerful framework.
But many professionals still get stuck at the same point: implementation.

When a client says, “I know what to do… I just can’t,” or returns with no follow-through, it’s easy for self-care to quietly turn into another place they feel behind, ashamed, or “not doing it right.”

That’s why we created the Self-Care Wheel® Session Success Kit for helping professionals-an educational facilitation manual for 1:1 sessions and groups that gives you a repeatable, trauma-informed, shame-free flow you can rely on.

It shows you how to guide clients from insight → to a realistic plan → to follow-through, without scrambling for what to say next.

Inside the Session Success Kit, you’ll get:

A repeatable session flow (assess → choose a focus → micro-step plan → Plan B for barriers)
Scripts and prompts for resistance, shutdown, and “I didn’t do it” moments
Client-friendly assessment guide + interpretation prompts
An Action Plan Builder for tiny steps that actually work.

👉 Get the Session Success Kit ($47)

Instant PDF download • 30-day guarantee

Why Is Copyright Licensing Required for Professional or Organizational Use of the Self-Care Wheel®?

The Self-Care Wheel® framework and tools are are copyrighted intellectual property and copyright licensing is required for using these resources at a professional level.

If you are using the Self-Care Wheel with clients, students, groups, staff, or communities, ethical and legal use requires proper licensing-this is why we created the Self-Care Wheel Copyright Licensing Program comes into play.

The Self-Care Wheel® Copyright Licensing Program, allows you to:

✔ Use and distribute the tools legally
✔ Integrate them into therapy, coaching, groups, and programs
✔ Apply them across teams or departments (by license tier)
✔ Maintain ethical and professional standards
✔ Save time creating materials from scratch

Licensing options are available for: Solo professionals, agencies and nonprofits, universities and institutions, multi-site and enterprise organizations.

Ready to Use the Self-Care Wheel® in Your Professional Work?

👉 Explore the Self-Care Wheel® Copyright Licensing Program