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Monday, December 17, 2018

Self Care



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. 

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