'Compassion fatigue is caused by empathy. It is the natural consequence of stress resulting from caring for and helping traumatized or suffering people'
Dennis Portnoy [1]
You might also find compassion fatigue referred to as
'Caregiver Fatigue', 'Vicarious Stress' and 'Secondary Traumatic Stress', and it
most often appears in those who help others, provide them with support and/or
listen to their upsetting or traumatic stories.
Compassion fatigue is not an illness or a medical condition,
it's more a set of signs and symptoms which happen because of your
circumstances, and how effectively you cope with them.
Compassion fatigue is thought to have three main elements
and it’s how they interact that can cause problems. The elements are:
- job satisfaction - the joy and positivity you get from doing your job well
- exposure to risk - how often you are exposed to people's problems, and how severe or traumatic these are
- stress levels - partly those from your job (including exposure to risk, above) but also family issues and problems which have an effect on your wellbeing
Essentially when the three elements are balanced, you have
all the resources you need to cope with the demands that life has placed upon
you. Generally, things are pretty good. But if your pleasure in helping people is undermined for
some reason, or your risk or stress levels increase, there is an imbalance.
Over the short term, this might be manageable, but if it persists, it will start
to impact upon both your physical and emotional health.
Symptoms of compassion fatigue
These can include- physical and emotional exhaustion or feeling overwhelmed
- sadness, anxiety, fearfulness, depression, anger
- poor concentration, memory and/or sleep patterns
- feelings of detachment and/or persistent negativity
- physical illness, such as headaches
- avoidance of situations we perceive as being difficult to cope with
Risk factors for compassion fatigue
- perfectionists
- those who consistently put others' needs before their own
- those who have low levels of social support
- those who have high levels of stress in their personal lives
- those in the caring professions
Although I couldn't find any specific figures for
hypnotherapists, it seems reasonable to consider that they come under the
'caring professions' and are at risk.
Compassion fatigue: prevention and cure
As you might have guessed, there is no 'cure' as such, but
stress management and relaxation techniques plus effective self-care programmes
help in reducing and preventing the symptoms. These include breathing
exercises, guided meditation, self-hypnosis and exercise. You also need to
establish firm professional boundaries and an effective support network.
Of course, having an effective support network when you
offer a confidential service to your clients can be tricky. You can’t come home
and unload about your day to your family or friends, as most people can. In
this context, a support network has to be professional and that means good
supervision throughout your career. Although supervision is often thought of as
'where you go when you don’t know what to do', it should also (among other
things) ensure that you have self-care protocols in place and that they are
working.
References:
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Author: Debbie Waller is an experienced hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy trainer. She is the author of Their Worlds, Your Words and has co-written the Hypnotherapy Handbook, both of which are available from Amazon.
Tips to help therapists avoid and reduce compassion fatigue
- Be aware of how you're feeling and accept that you might sometimes need help
- Recognise your stress triggers, at home and at work
- Use the good advice you’d give to a client in the same situation
- There's nothing wrong with having high standards or seeking to improve things, but accept that now and then you need to give yourself a break
- Keep work and home separate
- Set time aside for yourself, do something you enjoy regularly
- Look for practical solutions to difficult situations and put them in place; get help with this too if you need it
- Delegate, and learn to say no (if you need help with this, ask for my information sheet on how to gracefully say no - and mean it)
- Be realistic about how many clients you can help at times when your stress levels at home are high, and vice versa
- Get a good supervisor and use their services regularly
Resources:
- I run a Facebook group where therapists can swap their skills with other local therapists to improve their self-care regimes.
- Need a hypnotherapy supervisor? - I offer supervision in person or by phone all over the world, or if you're looking for someone local to you, please ask me for a referral.
- Want to be a hypnotherapy supervisor and offer support to others? I offer accredited training which will help you offer the best service to your supervisees
[1] Portnoy, Dennis (2011) 'Burnout And Compassion Fatigue:
Watch For The Signs' in Health Progress July - August 2011 pp. 46-50 on
http://www.compassionfatigue.org/pages/healthprogress.pdf
[2] cited on
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion_fatigue-------------------------------------------------------------------
Author: Debbie Waller is an experienced hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy trainer. She is the author of Their Worlds, Your Words and has co-written the Hypnotherapy Handbook, both of which are available from Amazon.
Find out more about Debbie's services on
Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training - multi accredited hypnotherapy practitioner training,
taster days and foundation levels.
CPD Expert
- accredited CPD and other therapy training (online and workshops options), expert
and qualified hypnotherapy supervision
I am extraordinarily affected beside your writing talents, Thanks for this nice share.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that many scientists are working to determine whether the power of suggestion can affect cognitive processes such as learning, with a view to using hypnosis in educational settings (Wark, 2011). Good therapist always understand the thoughts and feeling of the patient. Empathy encourages prosocial (helping) practices that originate from inside, as opposed to being constrained, with the goal that we act in a more compassionate way.
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Thanks Claire, your thoughts are much appreciated.
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