Stay up-to-date via RSS!

By Lily Gael, Call Center Specialist

You just spent ten exhausting minutes helping a client find shelter for the night. It’s your thirtieth call of the day. It’s Thursday. And despite your passion for helping people you are dead tired.

This is Compassion Fatigue and I’m going to give you 10 suggestions for battling it.

According to most psychologists, Compassion Fatigue is an occupational hazard for service providers whose daily work is helping those in our society with the greatest unmet needs.  Social worker, Karl LaRowe, LCSW, refers to Compassion Fatigue as a debilitating weariness. Being aware when we are feeling weary, especially tired, stressed, or overwhelmed with our daily work is the first step to taking care of ourselves, and keeping Compassion Fatigue in check.

With awareness, we can put a plan of action in place to increase our level of self-care and insure that we stay healthy.  If you watch the video below you’ll see how some of my colleagues practice self-care with a Tuesday ritual they call “cheese day.”

Maybe “cheese day” isn’t your style, but there are plenty of other options.

10 strategies for self-care.  Use this list to mix and match. Find a plan that works for you.

1. Get plenty of rest and plenty of sleep.
2. Keep negative energy flowing out of your body—stretch, sit upright and while with clients keep both feet on the ground in an open position. Shake out your hands, feet, whole body between clients or phone calls.
3. Exercise. Walk, run, take a class. Sing, dance, jump rope, play games. Practice Deep Breathing and other grounding, meditative exercises .
4. Drink lots of water. Eat low sugar, whole foods. Even one piece of fresh fruit a day, eaten in a quiet place, can be a sensory treat, reestablishing your connection to your self and your body.
5. Leave work at work—Strategies: visualization of leaving it at the door, ritual like changing clothes when you get home.
6. Debrief—with supervisors, co-workers, or professional supervision, other professionals (including counselors and medical professionals).
7. Take extra breaks from work throughout the day.
8. Spend time out of doors, everyday if you can. Walk in the sun and the rain.
9. Spend time with others whose company you enjoy. You choose. Try not talking about work, or only asking for support for yourself instead of discussing the workings of your job.
10. Practice the art of self-management.  Knowing when to say ‘no’ or ‘let me think about that and get back to you’ is self-empowering.  Speak your needs out  loud whenever possible.

And remember, we get compassion fatigue because We Care.  We care about our work and the people we serve.  With our self-care plan in place, we can also become proactive about caring about ourselves, too.

Do you live in the Portland metro area? Attend 211info’s latest Professional Development Training: Combating Compassion Fatigue. It is happening on May 21st. $45 for individuals, $30 per person for groups of three or more.

Do you have any special tricks for combating Compassion Fatigue?

Lily Gael is an AIRS-certified I & R Specialist. She has worked in direct services at 211info for 5 ½ years. Lily is a “retired” psychotherapist (LPC, MA, Clinical Psychology), and currently, an active performing artist, dancer and natural scientist.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Community Service Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.