This October I attended The Association for Play
Therapy conference in AZ where I took a few sessions about compassion
fatigue/burnout. One of my biggest take away from those sessions was how no
matter who we are, what we are doing in life: we will at some point in our
lives deal with compassion fatigue and/or burnout.
What is compassion fatigue and burnout? Webster
defines compassion fatigue as this: “Feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for
another who is stricken by suffering or misfortune, companied by a strong
desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause.” Burnout is defined by
Webster as:“exhaustion of physical or
emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or
frustration.”
People can experience either one
in various ways and it is up to you to know what that looks like for you. Sherrie
Bourg Carter Psy.D. wrote an article for Psychology Today that gives examples
of what burnout could look like. Some of the examples that she states are;
chronic fatigue, not being able to sleep, anger, and isolating yourself from
those around you. With compassion fatigue, you will have some signs that are similar to burnout. The difference between the two is that compassion fatigue is evident earlier
than burnout.
Here is the link to her article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201311/the-tell-tale-signs-burnout-do-you-have-them.
Check out the link to find more information on compassion
fatigue: http://www.compassionfatigue.org/index.html
There
are many ways you can work to overcome compassion fatigue and/or burnout,
however, the first step is to realize you are normal. When I say realize you
are normal, I mean that the reactions/symptoms you are experiencing are normal
reactions that many people in the world experience. Also becoming aware that
you are struggling with either one is another important step. When we are not
aware that we aren’t operating at our best, we are unable to make the necessary
changes. I’ll list below different links that have ideas for self-care items.
Carmen Stites, LPC