At the Opening Doors conference that was held in Burlington on November 2nd and 3rd, Françoise Mathieu gave a presentation on Compassion Fatigue.  She was a dynamite speaker and presented a lot of information on how to recognize the symptoms of burnout or compassion fatigue and prevent them in the first place.

Service workers who are exposed to clients' histories of trauma are often deeply affected in ways they're not always aware of.  If service workers don't take measures to protect and care for themselves, prolonged exposure to the suffering of others will ultimately cause burn out.  And burnout is a lot harder to repair than prevent, so finding ways of healing and self-nurturing before burnout occurs is critical.

Burnout can happen not just to service providers but to volunteers as well. I often tell my Positive Prevention participants to be aware that they can always say "no" when asked to speak, volunteer or participate at an event.  Our section on Boundaries in the Train-the-Trainer workshops is a good starting place, but sometimes the ability to say no goes against individuals' own instincts, and saying no or recognizing ones own limits can be difficult.  HIV & AIDS can be an emotionally difficult space in which to work and volunteer, especially if it triggers your own memories of stigma, abuse, addiction or shame.

Burnout and compassion fatigue isn't about weakness. It often happens to people who are dedicated and who are great at their jobs, because they genuinely care about the people they serve, and have the ability to provide empathy and sensitivity to the people they work with.

Preventing burnout is actually easier than it sounds. Many of the things we can do are things we already know are important to our health, but we might not make time for them - getting enough rest, eating healthy food, spending time with our friends & family, doing things that make us happy, getting exercise, managing our schedule in a way that it doesn't overburden us, debriefing after a stressful event with a supervisor, and finding ways to reduce stress and anxiety, such as yoga, breathing exercises, or meditation.  Sometimes we just need to make time to do the basic things we know will help!

There are some excellent resources on Françoise's website  and she even has a blog.

I thought I would share one excellent practice for simultaneously reducing stress and processing trauma in a healthy way. It's called a Metta meditation practice, also known as a Loving Kindness Practice.  Information and instructions about the metta practice can be found here.  Hopefully you will also find it helpful and relevant in this field.

Lastly, I wanted to remind the readers not to assume that yoga and meditation is an elite practice that only the rich can participate in.  Research studios in your area.  Most yoga studios have community classes or karma yoga classes on weekends that ask only for donations, pay-what-you can offerings, or canned goods that will be donated to the food bank.  Meditation classes in the community are often based on Buddhist principles that also just rely on donations or small fees. In both instances, no one will be turned away if they show up without any money, and most often these classes are advertised as free for those who don't have any income, or a reduce rate for those unemployed.  Research online or call up some studios and inquire. You might get connected to some great opportunities at next to no cost.

I hope these tips help you to prevent Compassion Fatigue in your work or volunteer placement.