Compassion Fatigue

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Compassion fatigue is a term used to describe the overwhelming feelings that often come when you dedicate yourself caring for people, animals, or achieving social change. Compassion for others and passion for change can drive you to work in intense, stressful environments on a daily basis often with little support. This consistent level of stress can take a significant toll on one’s physical, mental, emotional, and relationship health. 

Our counselor, Laura Brackett, has experience with helping the helpers. She can help you develop healthy ways of coping, work to mend a frayed relationship, and support you so that you can continue your mission of caring for others.​

​The signs of compassion fatigue are varied, but frequently include:

• ​Physical and mental exhaustion
  
• Poor self-care such as poor hygiene, habitual unhealthy eating, lack of exercise
  
• Use of alcohol, drugs, spending, gambling, food, or sex to cope
  
• Recurring nightmares or flashbacks related to caring for others
  
• Frequently voicing and receiving criticism
  
• Difficulty concentrating
  
• Isolation from others
  
• Chronic physical complaints such as stomach problems or frequent colds
  
• Apathy towards those you serve
  
• Frequent sadness, anger, or anxiety
  
• Denial of problems
  

​Careers that frequently experience compassion fatigue include nursing, disaster relief, emergency management, first responding, teaching, social work, community activism, animal welfare, foster care, elder care, and social services.

If you are experiencing signs of compassion fatigue, or believe the employees or volunteers at your organization are struggling, contact Laura Brackett to schedule an appointment or agency consultation. This is a long form text area designed for your content that you can fill up with as many words as your heart desires. You can write articles, long mission statements, company policies, executive profiles, company awards/distinctions, office locations, shareholder reports, whitepapers, media mentions and other pieces of content that don’t fit into a shorter, more succinct space.

Articles – Good topics for articles include anything related to your company – recent changes to operations, the latest company softball game – or the industry you’re in. General business trends (think national and even international) are great article fodder, too.

Mission statements – You can tell a lot about a company by its mission statement. Don’t have one? Now might be a good time to create one and post it here. A good mission statement tells you what drives a company to do what it does.

Company policies – Are there company policies that are particularly important to your business? Perhaps your unlimited paternity/maternity leave policy has endeared you to employees across the company. This is a good place to talk about that.

Executive profiles – A company is only as strong as its executive leadership. This is a good place to show off who’s occupying the corner offices. Write a nice bio about each executive that includes what they do, how long they’ve been at it, and what got them to where they are.