##Yes, the Barbarian can benefit from his/her own Spirit Shield##

Even though Spirit Shield is an ability not a spell, the rules on spellcasting talk about a parallel situation with (spell) effects:

> [**Targeting Yourself**][1]

> If a spell targets a creature of your choice, you can choose yourself, unless the creature must be hostile or specifically a creature other than you. If you are in the area of effect of a spell you cast, you can target yourself.

Assuming the Barbarian can see himself, he can target himself to benefit from Spirit Shield. Of course, the flipside of this is that Spirit Shield would not be available for use on an ally until the next turn, so doing this *does* have an opportunity cost.

There may be circumstances where the Barbarian cannot see himself: if he is blinded or in the dark for example. But otherwise, your interpretation is correct (and has been affirmed by Jeremy Crawford in [an unofficial tweet](https://twitter.com/jeremyecrawford/status/859555831808892928).


  [1]: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/spellcasting#TargetingYourself