Compassion fatigue includes elements of burnout (work demands that outpace psychological resources), secondary traumatic stress (vicarious traumatization), direct traumatic stress (the experience of fear when treating patients), and prior traumatic stress history (Figley et al., 2004). Its signs resemble those seen in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and include physiological hyper-arousal, anxiety, avoidance, social withdrawal, irritability, and persistent thoughts about difficult, “traumatic” clinical experiences.
Part 3 of the Compassion Fatigue Resilience series focuses on self-care. Self-care gives us the fuel we need to be effective within our formal, professional roles. We cannot take care of others if we are not taking care of ourselves. Trauma makes us fearful, and being fearful we can mistrust each other. Mistrust leads to shame, and we may find ourselves withdrawing or reacting in anger. Self-care is about nourishing your mind and body and accessing an important source of strength: each other. This workshop-recording explores different elements of self-care and helps viewers build strategies for ongoing self-care tactics to enhance personal and professional resilience.
View Part 1: Self Regulation and Part 2: Reframing of this series.
