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?

"Don't you know what's going on out there? It's no Sunday picnic!" -Night of the Living Dead

My name is Deanna and I am in my first year as a MSW student at Virginia Commonwealth University. I am starting this blog to help prevent burn out and compassion fatigue among fellow social workers and those in the helping profession. So, you may inquire, um, what does that have to do with with the awesome zombie movie from 1968, Night of the Living Dead?

Since you asked, part of burn out and compassion fatigue, as I understand it, is becoming a zombie. Going through the motions, being so overwhelmed that you cannot do your job as a social worker. Perhaps you even forget the reason why you got into the profession to begin with! And the burned out (burnt out?) social worker finds no joy in his or her work. You see where I'm going with this.

So, this blog is a process. A journey, if you will. In my search for mindfulness and peace in what I hope is a lifelong career, I will share all the neat knowledge that I come across! Let me know what you think about my articles, information, and adventures in the world of being present!

So here we go, here's hoping that all we human services types can remain un... undead? (Yeah, I know, I've belabored the point.)