Out of touch.

 I've abandoned my blog for the summer, but now that we're all either getting back to school, or really had no vacation because we're social workers and that's what we do, I think it's time to get going.  So, I'm hopefully going to continue to post a couple of times a week.  I just got this new book:

and though I don't always feel like being belligerent about a subject is helpful, I think this topic needs to be discussed.  Basically, the author discusses the way female purity is treated in the United States with special emphasis on the whole "True Love Waits" movement.  There are so many double standards out there for women, but Valenti focuses on how making your sexuality so public and your worth as a person balancing on your level of purity is damaging to our youth.  She does go out of her way to say that the "purity" itself is not problem and were the purity ring crowd to be just as accepting of those who think differently, there would be no problem. Very interesting topic, especially for someone who grew up in a conservative youth group that supported this kind of movement.  

Now, how does this relate to burnout?  Let's see, does anyone out there work with young women who have had multiple unplanned pregnancies?  Valenti stresses the link between abstinence only education and this kind of purity movement. She argues that there is no safe space for youth to talk about their sexuality and taking ownership of your own sexuality is certainly not encouraged.  I find when I have young clients with unplanned pregnancies it is very difficult to stop thinking about them when I leave work.  Because I've seen multiple similar cases, I have seen how resilient young mothers and babies can be.  I am struggling with working my hardest to talk with these girls about what is going on and at the end of the day realizing that I did my best and not being disappointed when they choose to make poor decisions.  Anyone have any good "mantras" to help with this?

My other challenge is the way that new pregnancies are discussed at work.  Instead of a stance of non-judgment, I hear,

"Guess who's pregnant?"

"Who?"

"Guess...[insert judgmental, knowing look]"

"Ohhhh, [insert name of someone that is going to have a challenging time with another child.]."

"You guessed it!"

"*Annoyed groan* Why am I not surprised?!"

I hate this!  Yet, I do it myself...  A few questions... because I am into questions more often now than answers...

-Why must we discuss our clients like they are characters in The Real World? 

-Does it do anyone any good to be negative about these families?  

-I'm frustrated too, but I don't ever know the whole situation...  if we were in this situation would we act any differently?

-Are we doing anything to prevent this?  Are we talking openly about sexuality or are we embarrassed?  Do we just stand by and allow abstinence only education to continue to happen in our schools?  Do we research good ways to discuss sexuality with young people and then support their parents in having these discussions?  -In other words, how are we taking ownership of this social problem?  Why are we separating ourselves from the issue?

-When we see this problem over and over do we just accept it as something that will never change?  Are we depressed about it?  Do we unfairly direct our frustration toward our clients?  

Finally...  when we have gossip sessions about our clients (consumers, families, however you want to refer to the folks you work with on a daily basis), don't think that it does not show when we interact with them.  When we dwell in the negativity, we start to get irritated with our clients, start to avoid them, and start to talk about them as if they are only sub-human.  How can we support each other in changing this?  What does everyone think?

Glad to be back!  

Definitely not the end.

As this semester draws to a close I think it's only appropriate to chat a bit about the book I read via books on tape!  I read Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  I wish I could say I devoured it and loved every minute of it (and perhaps I was too much in the trenches of work and school to enjoy it!) but the ideas seemed a little too...  elementary, for lack of a better word.  I'm going to give it another try, but he basically gave many meditation options that are fantastic for those that are just starting to delve into the world of meditation.  However, I wanted a bit more.  He did talk quite a bit about somatic functioning... in other words, as my Human Behavior professor says, "If you don't scream, your body will."  I won't dissect the book anymore, except to say that I would like to give it a chance by reading it book, not book on tape form!  His voice was so soothing that I often lost the point!

After reading the book I took a little self assessment of how kindly I am treating my self...
Eating:  I recommend anyone check out Skinny Bitch for a quick, funny read about the dairy/cattle/poultry industries.  The authors give you really really down to earth advice about actual NUTRITION as opposed to what will make you lose the most weight.  Yes, they advocate a vegan diet, but I think their general concepts, even if you don't plan on following a vegan diet, are worthwhile!  Also, as social-workers, I find that we not only love to advocate for humans, but we also love and respect animals!  This book covers a lot of the abusive big farm industry and makes one think twice about what we put in our bodies!  Even if you don't read a book, use common sense.  We're busy, I know I made the mistake of eating whatever was easiest and at the next drive through at the beginning of the semester.  Now, I feel a WORLD of difference in how I'm able to concentrate and do school work!  Plus, I just feeeeel better!

Exercise:  Whereas I ran a 10K a month or so ago, I've found that when work and school get hectic, exercise is the first to go.  I'm planning to run a 1/2 marathon in October, so I better get crackin'!  Again, no surprise that I just FEEL better when I'm running regularly (as opposed to sitting on my rear for 4 hours straight).  This is definitely an area that could use some revamping.  Any ideas for how one might choose an exercise plan and stick to it even when it's super busy? 

Sleep:  I wonder if I am just going to have to do my best with this one and kind of come to the realization that I will never have much sleep.  I have been doing better with my sleep because, mostly, I can't survive on as little sleep as I used to.

Mindefulness:I am going to continue to see literature on mindfulness and post on my blog.  I don't feel that I have reached even close to my potential.  Mindfulness is quite possibly the most important area of holistic health and I have a long way to go!

Any suggestions and ways to improve, I am always open!  Thank goodness we made it to the end of the semester!!!  So I leave you (for the moment) with my favorite compassion fatigue quote:


What is to give light must endure burning.
-Viktor Frankl

empowerment.

I spoke today with a friend who is working with a rural Department of Social Services.  We both lamented the language that is used to discuss the clients... how the clients are really devalued, dehumanized, and treated like pests instead of humans seeking assistance.  This week I will remain cognizant of my words and thoughts when I refer to a client.  I will continue to realize that my job as a social worker (of sorts) is to empower and offer tools to those who are in need, not to dehumanize, remove power, and scold.  It gets overwhelming sometimes.  Sometimes I feel like I am a chauffeur.    But what am I doing to change this?  What tools am I offering?  What kind of power am I modeling?  Good thoughts.

Sometimes I get a little existential crisisy...

What is this "burnout" of which we hear so much?  I recently read a journal article that highlighted the dire issue of social worker burnout. "Burnout and Turnover Intention Among Social Workers:  Effects of Role Stress, Job Autonomy and Social Support" by Hansung Kim and Madeleine Stoner defined the term burnout and discussed the three main predictors of burnout and turnover intention (or intention to leave the job).  If you are able to access the article and you're in the human services field, I'd highly recommend it!  But if you're not, here's the main gist... 

• Burnout "was introduced to refer to a phenomenon observed among human service workers who had to deal with emotionally demanding individuals." (pg. 7)
• Definition of burnout:  "Maslach and Jackson's...definition of burnout has three components:  emotional exhaustion (feelings of being overextended and depleted of emotional and physical resources), depersonalization or cynicism (negative or excessively detached responses to various aspects of the job), and diminished personal accomplishment (feelings of incompetence and a lack of achievement at work)." (pg. 7) 

The article has a lot to say about what your boss can do to prevent burnout, but little to say about what I can do.  We're supposed to have an inner locus of control, right?  At any rate, I will gladly use their definitions of burnout to help me on my path.  Soooo, do any of these descriptions resonate with any of you?   Unfortunately, my over extension reaches across my career as a social worker into the realm of being a student.  How do I replenish my physical resources when there is no time?  I am on my way to keeping up with my yoga and running routine, but I feel like I am constantly failing in this area.  How can I be more consistent?

Luckily, I have not yet reached the point of depersonalizing clients... but how  far off am I really?  I think I am going to start keeping a check on this every time I discuss a client.  Is there really a need to lash out because a client is not quite in a healthy place?  These little personal checks are really helpful.

Finally, though I feel that I have been well-trained and am well-prepared to meet the challenges of work, I often struggle with "making a difference".  As a developmental therapist and a service coordinator I am charged with coordinating concrete services for families and connecting them with basic necessities at the same time as working towards a development plan.  These are two separate full time jobs!  And how can a mom who is struggling to survive even begin to worry about whether their child is talking properly?  These are sincere questions that keep me up at night.  Maybe there aren't answers.  I know a few things.  If I were not there, or perhaps if my position did not exist, there would be unmet needs.  Yet I return again and again to this question: "Is there something more I could be doing?"  How do you all reconcile these issues?  How do you all find peace when you cannot fix the world?

If you have an answer, you might be able to make a lot of money and fix the turnover in the social worker industry, so don't hold back!

Count your blessings, name them one by one.

It seems that "counting your blessings" is a major theme in preventing burnout. 

Many of the good things in my life are as follows:

• http://www.foundmagazine.com
• inspirational friends.
• inspirational friends with blogs.
• reading a REALLY good article in an academic journal.
• that "in the zone" moment when I finally GET what I'm writing about.
• when that zone comes prior to the day the paper is due.
• those quiet moments when I'm not obsessed with my future career, or past shortcomings.
• when you can find something GOOD that government officials are doing (*cough* SB 462 *cough*)
• not procrastinating (if/when that happens)

Ok, back to my policy paper.

A little motivation.

 

Thanks, despair.com!  I love your anti-motivational posters.  They make me smile.

Well, of course, I'm a couple days behind because I've been trying to figure out exactly how I want to go about this whole blogging deal.  Do I want to follow a specific pattern?  Or do I want to post willy nilly with no theme?  Decisions, decisions.  I think I'll do a little of both.  So if you're still reading, I think I'll do a little section on my own personal progress, a review of a website, and a review of an article.  That sounds like a lot in written form... we'll see!

Does it just take naming the problem to start working on it?

It's been one heck of a week.  It's Tuesday.  Somewhere between chart reviews, short attention spans, and wild two year olds I have somehow found a certain peace.  I've been shielding myself, somewhat, from the negativity that I hear coming from well-meaning coworkers and friends.  No, I don't want to hear more about the murder du jour on the news.  And no, life really isn't all that bad.  I'm catching my thoughts that are getting away from me.  Hopefully this is the beginning of awareness.  

I've been carrying this particular article around by John Makransky, PhD.  I wanted to start my blog with an academic journal or something that my audience might consider to be a legitimate empirical study, but I kept coming back to this... It seems that the available interventions for compassion fatigue and burnout are very much based around a more Eastern way of thinking, with many nods to Buddhism specifically.  So maybe Dr. Makransky's website is a good place to get started. 

 The Website

Though not specifically about  compassion fatigue and burnout, http://www.johnmakransky.org/ has very approachable articles that individuals from all traditions can incorporate into their daily lives (if you can get past the new-agey language that is a turnoff for some folks).   I recommend clicking on the social services link but only if you want to drool over conferences offered for social services workers with regards to: alleviating burnout and compassion fatigue, becoming more fully present, and enhancing our ability to affect change.  I'm so jealous!  

Interestingly, he links meditation, service, and social justice as if they go hand in hand.  I wonder what our textbooks would  have to say about that? Could meditation make us more present for our clients, therefore enhancing the possibility for change?  Hey, I'm willing to try anything once.

The Article

Not surprisingly, the good doctor (can I call him that?) included a great article about meditation for those in the helping profession!  "Compassion Beyond Fatigue: Contemplative Training for People Who Serve Others" is an excellent reminder of those "benefactors" in our lives that have given so much to us.  Especially when it feels like we can't give any more.  Dr. Makransky says:

"To help alleviate burnout and compassion fatigue, people need to find a place of inner refuge, a quality of awareness that is prior to the turmoil of ego reaction--a place of deep rest from their own reactivity and of profound replenishment for their energy and motivation." (Makransky, p. 3)

I like that.  I'd like to find that inner refuge when it feels like utter chaos going on around me.  Check out the article for a short meditation.  Also, Dr. Makransky's suggested reading list:

Awakening through Love by John Makransky, Medicine and Compassion by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, How Can I Help? by Ram Dass and Paul Gorman, Keeping the Peace: Mindfulness and Public Service by Thich Nhat Hanh, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

Maybe there is something to this whole Buddhism-inspired, meditation intervention?  After all, isn't the word Buddha supposed to mean "awake" (Das, 1997)?   Take a few minutes and read about those who have been compassionate towards you for a change.  I'm going to try it out.  Share with me what you think!!!

That reminds me, everyone should read the children's book Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth.  Some more eastern advice for the younger crowd.

 

Begin at the Beginning and an Article to Begin.

The weekend of the 6th and 7th I had the honor of attending a weekend retreat for myself and two other close friends I knew during my year in AmeriCorps.  How appropriate that the first week that I am starting a blog about preventing compassion fatigue that I have a "retreat" of sorts with two other friends who are in helping professions!  We first met during a spiritual retreat lead by Notre Dame AmeriCorps in 2006 and have kept in contact ever since!  We share a propensity for existential crisis and a desire for social justice.  The girls and I decided to escape to The Point at Liberty Farm in rural Oak Grove, VA.  For different reasons we are all in need of relaxation and soul searching.  For different reasons we are all at risk for burnout and we want to prevent it.

So maybe I should introduce them with embarrassing photos and semi-accurate bios?  Did I hear a resounding yes?!  Hey girls, this is for you.  Thanks!

First, Shannon:

 

Shannon is a soon to be graduate of an MA program in Human Rights at Columbia.  She cares deeply about undocumented immigrants that are in detention centers throughout the United States. She hopes to create a program to meet their needs in Galveston, TX.

And Kerry?

Kerry describes her current job with AIRS in Baltimore, MD as "basically i get to hang out with HIV-positive and at-risk homeless youth and watch them turn their lives around. and all of this at the organization i fell in love with in americorps! how lucky am i?!"  She has her MA in Theology and would love to some day return to Africa.

All three of us experienced what could potentially be the most compassion fatigue inducing year of our lives, AmeriCorps.  Why did we continue with human services after this year of little to no pay, long hours, and many many frustrations?  I'll let the other girls speak for themselves, but it may be that as a part of our program, they offered weekly "debriefing" meetings with self-care options.  We were not sheltered, but we were supported.  Yet, the overlying response to "Why in the world would you continue in such a profession?" seems to be passion.  This weekend, a theme wase the ache we feel when others are in pain, whether that is emotional or physical.  During our weekend of journaling, conversation with kindred spirits, and stopping to enjoy nature; I began to remember why I got mixed up in this human services racket to begin with.

Passion and compassion.

I never forgot about my passion and compassion.  I could tell you all day long that I am passionate about the immigrant community and I would do anything for them!  However, as my boss (a wise wise woman) so delicately put it:  I tend to care too much.  Rather, I tend to take on other peoples' pain as my own.  Does that sound familiar?  

That being said, here is an article that both defines compassion fatigue and offers a nice introductory to the concept.
Compassion Fatigue: Understanding and preventing compassion fatigue-a handout for professionals. By Dr. Angelea Panos

Read it and tell me, are any of you experiencing the beginning signs of burnout and compassion fatigue?  Why did YOU get involved in the helping profession to begin with?