The Important Role Of Self
While the work of a therapist or mental health practitioner can become emotionally, mentally, and physically draining, it is possible to reduce the likelihood or impact of compassion fatigue through the practice of self-care .
When therapists dont practice self-care, their ability to help others is compromised . Rather than a selfish act or a chore that gets dropped when time is tight, self-care is necessary to maintain a selfless, untroubled attitude with clients. According to Bush , it is an ethical obligation for professionals working toward their clients mental health.
We can approach self-care at two levels. Macro-self-care includes the bigger things in our lives: getting the sleep we need, eating well, taking vacations, focusing on relationships, and spending time doing the things we love. Each is important taken as a whole, they are essential. Micro-self-care involves the small stuff that can easily fit into the busiest of days: taking a moment to breathe, strengthening self-awareness, and practicing self-compassion.
Coaston recognizes therapists routine exposure to painful situations and overwhelming emotions and recommends developing an attitude of self-compassion, mindfulness, and regularly making time for oneself.
Self-care is crucial to therapists wellbeing and ability to function and continue to meet their clients needs, enabling them to refill and refuel in healthy ways .
Tests Scales Checklists & Questionnaires
Those in helping professions often consciously or unconsciously share the emotional burden of their traumatized clients as they encourage the healing process. As a result, it is easy to become overwhelmed and numb through secondary traumatic stress .
For mental health professionals, it can be helpful to use questionnaires and tests to provide a more objective score of the degree of compassion fatigue currently being experienced.
Use Positive Coping Strategies
While it may be tempting to wash away the stress and emotional burdens of your job with alcohol or drugs, this can actually work in the reverse and compound stress in the long run. Consider making a list of positive coping strategies to use in times of stress. This might include deep breathing, meditation, taking a walk, talking with a friend, watching a funny movie, or relaxing in a hot bath.
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Examine Beliefs About Self
Its not enough to just go through the motions of self-care, emphasizes Schwanz. It needs to be a legitimate attempt. In our society, we applaud people who work themselves to death, who neglect their own self-care to help others, says Schwanz. We rarely applaud people for taking the day off. Psychologists may have internalized this message, viewing self-care as selfish, says Schwanz, who is studying such beliefs relationship with compassion fatigue. As a result, psychologists may not reap the benefit of any self-care efforts they make, because they engage in behaviors such as worrying about work on a day off. And psychologists shouldnt feel guilty about taking time for fun and laughter during this sad, anxious time, adds Thomas Skovholt, PhD, of the University of Minnesota. Playing games, watching funny movies and the like can replenish the energy needed to help others, he says. Even a tiny dose of positive emotion, such as noticing flowers blooming, can help.
Empathy Fatigue Or Compassion Fatigue Can Hit Any Counsellor Caregiver Or Therapist
Because it triggers certain fears and thoughts that represent those fraudulent schemas that we all secretly have, at least to some degree! This intellectual self-doubt can have even the most experienced and accomplished counsellor or caregiver feeling like an imposter what gives me the right to be hereI feel like a fake.
These thoughts can be quite confronting and difficult to talk about. And while they can surface for many reasons, compassion fatigue is a big one.
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There Is A Better Way
While the solutions arent easy, they are imperative to lifelong success in our personal and professional lives. This blog exists for physicians like us who are looking for resources and solutions to learn, grow, and thrive in medicine.
First and foremost, understand that achieving wellness and returning to the strong leader that you once were takes time. Give yourself that first.
All too often, we are looked toward to be the strong one and to keep our feelings buried. Perhaps you have been told to keep your chin up and to stay strong, but have those phrases ever helped? Likely not. I want you to know that having these feelings are OK. Dont put them on the back burner or try to convince yourself that they dont exist.
Acknowledge them for what they are, and lets develop a plan to get you away from these feelings toward a life of fulfillment and contentment.
So lets get started
A Perfect Storm For Compassion Fatigue
Unlike other disasters that tend to bring people together to rebuild, pandemics make you fear your neighbor.
Pandemics cause compassion fatigue because the price is so high with getting sick and the fear it generates, explains Charles Figley, founder and leading researcher at the Traumatology Institute at Tulane.
The cost of caring is sometimes high, says Figley.
Every day we hear about the millions of Americans who have been infected by the new coronavirus and the hundreds of thousands who have died, often alone and away from family.
We hear the pain of their grieving loved ones, as well as the hardships faced by people losing their jobs, fearing eviction, and being unable to feed their families.
We get burned emotionally when we absorb trauma on a regular basis without a working plan to manage the consequence of the trauma memories and its wake of impact, says Figley.
This is why, throughout history, plagues have often led to loss of compassion. In the early 15th century and 16th century, plague victims were shipped to an island to die and buried in mass graves. In other cities, victims were sealed in their homes and no food or care was allowed.
In A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe wrote about an epidemic that struck London in 1665.
Everyone is struggling, and so its important to look out for each other, says Eric Zillmer, a professor of neuropsychology. Compassion creates a sense of belonging and a feeling of peace and mindfulness.
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Treating And Moving Through Empathy Fatigue
In todays global pandemic, empathy fatigue can go hand-in-hand with caution fatigue. But its important to remain vigilant about slowing the spread of COVID-19. We must be mindful about what were doing to help and protect others, while also taking care of ourselves.
Empathy fatigue can eventually slip into depression, so its so important to pay attention to how youre feeling, address those feelings and move forward with caring for yourself and those around you.
When were talking about empathy fatigue in terms of treatment, we like to think about the ABC model, explains Dr. Albers. We need to work on our awareness, our balance of everything going on and our connection with others.
Here is more about what that means:
Connect To A Bigger Picture
Human connection is important. But empathy burnout can cause you to lose sight of how you connect to others and to the work that you do.
Re-establish your connection by volunteering, making new friends, or doing some continuing education. Rediscovering why you do what you do can reignite the passion for doing it.
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Tips To Overcome Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue is a condition that affects medical professionals like nurses, veterinarians, caregivers and others that help people or animals in distress. Its mainly characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and isolation.
Research shows that 68% of people experiencing compassion fatigue are full time employees, and only 8% have received some form of specialized trauma training.
People who suffer from compassion fatigue have feelings of incompetency and inability to focus because theyre so preoccupied with helping others that they fail to practice self-care.
As a result, they sometimes experience decreased productivity, affecting their jobs. Some even turn to drugs and alcohol to cope.
Compassion fatigue and the caring profession go hand in hand. So, what are some ways of overcoming it? Here are a few:
The Cost Of Caring: 10 Ways To Prevent Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue can be a serious occupational hazard for those in any kind of helping profession, with a majority of those in the field reporting experiencing at least some degree of it in their lives. This is no surprise, as it is typically those with the most empathy who are the most at risk.
Compassion fatigue is characterized by physical and emotional exhaustion and a profound decrease in the ability to empathize. It is a form of secondary traumatic stress, as the stress occurs as a result of helping or wanting to help those who are in need. It is often referred to as the cost of caring for others who are in physical or emotional pain. If left untreated, compassion fatigue not only can affect mental and physical health, but it can also have serious legal and ethical implications when providing therapeutic services to people.
While it is not uncommon to hear compassion fatigue referred to as burnout, the conditions are not the same. Compassion fatigue is more treatable than burnout, but it can be less predictable and may come on suddenly or without much warning, whereas burnout usually develops over time.
Because it can arise so abruptly, it can be important for therapists and others in the helping professions to protect themselves from this condition. Here are 11 ways to prevent compassion fatigue from happening to you:
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How To Recover From Compassion Fatigue And Burnout
How to Recover from Compassion Fatigue and Burnout
Enduring the many waves of the pandemic as a therapist has been a perfect recipe for compassion fatigue and burnout.
We have lived through the exact same situation as our clients over the past two years isolation, being down and out with COVID, sick family members and friends all while trying to navigate how we feel about the whole thing. None of us have been through a pandemic before, and the strategies we were once able to provide to our clients may no longer feel suitable with potential lockdowns, changing restrictions, and the unknown of what lies ahead.
Enduring the many waves of the pandemic as a therapist has been a perfect recipe for compassion fatigue and burnout.
You might be exhausted from pretending as though you have it all together for your clients sake and your own! Others may look at your life and admire your achievements, yet you might feel like you arent good enough or are falling apart at the seams. Or maybe your friends and family compliment you on the amazing ways youve been supporting your clients though these tough times, but somehow you can only focus on what isnt quite right.
We have lived through the exact same situation as our clients over the past two years, all while trying to navigate how we feel about the whole thing.
Perhaps youre tired and just want to be by yourself, but right now you honestly dont even know who you truly are.
Early Warning Signs Of Compassion Fatigue
The Society for Psychotherapy provides a list of compassion fatigue warning signs to watch for through self-reflection. Together, they give a good indication of whether you are meeting your self-care needs :
Ask yourself if the following warning signs apply:
- My patterns of eating, sleeping, or concentration have changed.
- I isolate myself from friends, family, and colleagues.
- I dont take regular breaks when working.
- I am bored and disinterested, and I dont enjoy my work as much as I did.
- I am easily irritated by my clients.
- I feel emotionally exhausted and drained after meeting some of my clients.
- I am not taking good care of myself overlooking my health and self-medicating.
- I find myself thinking of being elsewhere when I am with my clients.
- I find my work less rewarding than in the past.
- I regularly feel depressed, anxious, or agitated.
- I experience more headaches and other physical complaints.
- I cant concentrate and find myself staring into the distance.
Pay attention to the answers you give to each question and overall patterns they may indicate you are burned out or experiencing compassion fatigue. Engaging in self-care is not a nice-to-have, but a necessity for your own and your patients wellbeing.
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How To Heal From Empath Compassion Fatigue
Needless to say, compassion fatigue wears you down, and leaves you feeling beyond depleted. Its as if all the horror stories youve heard act like an sos pad on your life-force. So, how do you heal from all the secondary trauma, and regain your motivation and happiness?
Here are 3 steps to prevent and overcome empath compassion fatigue:
Pro Tip: Dont Confuse Having An Interest With Having A Hobby
Part of the joy of pursuing a hobby is the doing. You see, hobbies, unlike interests, require action. Now, a hobby can be inspired by an interest, but the key difference is that an active pursuit toward an interest that makes it a hobby.
Choosing a hobby shouldnt be complicated or stressful. Look into your past. Was there something you enjoyed as a child that you might still enjoy as an adult? Are there projects around your home that you gave up?
If you are still struggling to find a hobby, start with something small. You dont have to find the perfect hobby. In fact, there is joy and adventure in exploring new things. The key is to try out new things and explore whats out there. And remember, get out there!
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Compassion Fatigue Vs Burnout: Whats The Difference
Put simply, empathy fatigue is associated with the type of work you do. As such, changing jobs often wont fix it. It also tends to have a fairly sudden onset and is not entirely predictable which can be quite unsettling. On the upside though, it is actually relatively easy to treat.
Burnout, on the other hand, is associated with where you work, as opposed to the work you do. This means that changing jobs is often a good start when it comes to addressing associated symptoms. It also tends to have a more predictable onset and gradual as opposed to the sudden onset of empathy fatigue.
At Open Colleges, we believe that mental health really matters. Read the series here.
The Other Side Of The Coin
Compassion fatigue is a tough fact of life for many nurses, but that doesnt mean nursing is always a psychological drain. Carlson says he is optimistic about the career and the fulfillment that comes from the tangible differences a nurse can make with their patients.
There is an endless list of things that make nursing rewarding, Carlson says.
While it is important to focus on all the positive aspects of nursing, it is also crucial to address the challenge of compassion fatigue that some nurses will encounter as they strive to give the best care to their patients. Its also encouraging to know you can overcome it and continue the career you love.
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Effectiveness Of Cf Interventions
The thirteen included studies in our search demonstrated mixed or no effects. While ten studies reported significant improvement in at least one element of CF, no study reported positive change on all three indicators and only one study had a follow up period of longer than eight weeks. This makes it difficult to determine with any certainty whether these effects were likely to be sustained over time.
Pro Tip: Create Your Tribe Of Mentors
The community of medicine has fed us a steady diet of rugged individualism. Very early in our medical training, to our detriment, I feel, we are taught to be self-sufficient, independent, and the captain of ones ship. But, if we were honest with ourselves, we would never have achieved the success that we have had without the support of each other.
I feel every successful physician should create their own tribe of mentors. When success guru Napolean Hill interviewed Andrew Carnegie about the secret of his success, he replied that it could be traced back to the sum total of the minds of his business partners. In his book, The Law of Success, Hill defines this mastermind group as a mind that is developed through the harmonious co-operation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task.
Create a weekly meeting with 1 or 2 close colleagues to have a quick meal or coffee. This act, alone, has such a powerful effect on our healthemotionally and physically. The camaraderie that a colleague has on your work-life balance is so critical it is a keystone method that a physician needs to heal from compassion fatigue. We do not live on an islanddont be a hermit. Seek social connections!
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What Are The Signs Of Compassion Fatigue
Basically, the top 3 signs of compassion or empathy fatigue are:
While many of us experience at least one of these symptoms from time to time, experiencing all three at once can certainly be a sign of empathy or compassion fatigue.
