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What is “Compassion Fatigue”:

What is “Compassion Fatigue” “The reduced capacity or interest in being empathic or ‘bearing the suffering of clients’ and is ‘the natural consequent behaviors and emotions arising from knowing about traumatizing events.’” - International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2004

How Do We Get Compassion Fatigue?:

How Do We Get Compassion Fatigue? “Caring people sometimes experience pain as a direct result of their exposure to other’s traumatic material. Unintentionally and inadvertently, this secondary exposure to trauma may cause helpers to inflict additional pain on the originally traumatized. This situation – call it Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Stress, or Secondary Traumatic Stress – is the natural, predictable, treatable, and preventable unwanted consequence of working with suffering people” - B. Hudnall Stamm , Ph.D : “Secondary Traumatic Stress : Self-Care Issues for Clinicians, Researchers, and Educators; Second Edition.”

Who is at Risk for Developing Compassion Fatigue?:

Who is at Risk for Developing Compassion Fatigue? “…Healthcare professionals working with traumatized patients were at greater risk for CF, controlling for demographic factors, personal trauma history, social support and work environment factors…We suggest that the important variables in predicting CF include degree of exposure , personal history , social support , and work environment factors .” - International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2004

Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue:

Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue Intrusive images or feelings about clients’ issues Frustration with your capacity to help Physical difficulties such as frequent headaches, muscular tension, decrease or increase in sleep and appetite A diminished sense of safety in the world Less sense of control over your environment, including home

Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue::

Symptoms of Compassion Fatigue: A change in your view of the world, sense of self, and spirituality Numbing (emotional or physical) Social withdrawal Generalized despair and hopelessness No time or energy for yourself Increased sensitivity to the incidence of violence

Compassion Fatigue at Work:

Compassion Fatigue at Work Performance of Job Tasks Decrease in quality and quantity of work performed Low energy and motivation Avoidance of job tasks Increase in mistakes Perfectionistic standards for self and others Obsession or lack of concern about details

Compassion Fatigue at Work:

Compassion Fatigue at Work Morale Decrease in confidence Lost of interest Dissatisfaction Apathy Lack of appreciation Feelings of incompleteness

Compassion Fatigue at Work:

Compassion Fatigue at Work Interpersonal Withdrawal from colleagues Impatience Decrease in quality of relationships Poor communication Staff conflicts Subsume own needs

Compassion Fatigue at Work:

Compassion Fatigue at Work Behavioral Absenteeism Exhaustion Faulty judgment Irritability Tardiness Irresponsibility Frequent job changes

Most Importantly:

Most Importantly Because emotions are contagious*, compassion fatigue not only affects us individually, it also impacts our working environment, our relationships with coworkers and the quality of service we are able to provide to our clients. *See Daniel Goleman Ph.D., Social Intelligence: The Revolutionary New Science of Human Relationships .

Transforming Compassion Fatigue:

Transforming Compassion Fatigue Compassion fatigue cannot be stopped, blocked or ignored. It must be transformed. Transforming compassion fatigue requires a conceptual understanding of what it is, the experience of discharging the energy residue of accumulated stress and secondary trauma, and the integration of specific methods that can be practiced, individualized and internalized.

Seminars and Workshops:

Seminars and Workshops After attending this seminar or in-house workshop you will be able to: Identify the true causes of compassion fatigue in personal and professional life; Understand how secondary traumatic stress and burnout accumulate in the body as “energy residue;” Learn specific techniques to discharge energy residue and recharge body and mind with energy and vitality; Re-discover your passion for compassion; Develop psycho-physiological coherence as the secret of compassion resiliency; and, Implement specific personal and organizational strategies for positive energy managemen t.

Clinical Supervision:

Clinical Supervision Individual and group clinical supervision offer a strengths perspective to help counselors by: Receiving validation for the efforts they are making in a challenging profession; Empowering them to understand they are their best resource in understanding and helping their clients; Focusing on and understanding the dynamics of the therapeutic relationship as a central principle of both therapy and supervision; and, Utilizing multiple perspectives including cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, somatic experiencing orientations in developing their unique therapeutic modality.

Retreats:

Retreats For a positive, lasting, life-changing adventure attend one of our retreats and experience: Complete immersion in total relaxation in an atmosphere of support, acceptance and respect; Fun, exploration, adventure and discovery; Friends, guides, teachers, fellow travelers, enriching and sustaining relationships; and, The opportunity to rediscover, embrace, remember, honor and integrate the part of you that first fell in love with helping others that often gets lost and sometimes forgotten in the busy, chaotic and often competitive business of modern day care giving.

Taking the First Step:

Taking the First Step Taking the first step is easy and won’t cost you a thing. Email me: karl.larowe@hotmail.com and set up a time when I can come to your agency and present a free, lunch hour mini-workshop that will give you a taste of what the workshops/supervision/retreats have to offer. Email me: Karl.larowe@hotmail.com