Compassion fatigue in the animal care community glickman1
1. Compassion Fatigue in the
Animal Care Community
Presented by:
Lauren Glickman, Executive Director of Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project and
Principal Consultant of FORAY Consulting & Associates
Hilary Anne Hager, Director, National Volunteer Center, HSUS and Associate
Consultant of FORAY Consulting & Associates
May 2013
3. Today’s Agenda
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Introduction and Housekeeping
Why You Do What You Do
Compassion Fatigue and Trauma
Three Levels of Trauma Stewardship
Symptoms and Signs
Our Nervous System
Skills
Providing a Good Death
Self-Care Plan
Conclusion
4. A Few Requests
• Listening
No side conversations
• Learning Partnership
Participate and contribute
Speak up if something isn’t working
• Respect
Creating a safe space
Anonymity vs. Confidentiality
Cell phones off
7. Locus of Control
• External – the quality of your life is
determined by what happens around you,
the actions of others, or to chance factors
• Internal – the quality of your life is
determined by your behaviors and your
reactions to what happens around you
8. Compassion Fatigue
• Also known as:
Secondary traumatic stress disorder, vicarious
traumatization, empathic strain and secondary trauma
• A holistic way of thinking about it:
Trauma Stewardship – “refers to the entire conversation
about how we come to do this work, how we are affected
by it, and how we make sense of and learn from our
experiences.” - Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
9. Compassion Satisfaction
• Compassion satisfaction refers to
the pleasure you derive from being able to do your
work well.
positive feelings about your colleagues and their
efforts
your ability to contribute to the work setting or
even the greater good of society.
your feelings about your ability to be an effective
caregiver.
11. Levels of Trauma Stewardship
Individual
• The most profound influence on our ability to cope
• Think about –
Your own history of hardship.
The resources available to you in the past.
What led you to this work? Consider your journey to the
seat you're in now.
Do you identify with the trauma you see? Is this personal?
12. Levels of Trauma Stewardship
Organizational
• Make better
• Make worse
Societal
• Systemic isolation
13. High-Risk Factors
Exposure to:
Abused animals
Limited financial resources—organization and client
Administrative policies
Poverty distress
Euthanasia
Distressed customers
The constant stream of demands
Uncertainty/Ambiguity
Volumes of distressed people in a short amount of time
Conflict within the workplace
Conflict in personal life
Stressed-out peers
Attrition
Constant change
Physical danger
14. The Signs
• Anger and cynicism
• It’s never enough
• Inability to empathize/Numbing
• Hyper-vigilance
15. The Signs
• Addiction
• Diminished creativity
• Minimizing
• Inability to embrace
complexity
16. The Signs
• Dissociative moments
• Grandiosity and inflated
sense of importance
• Sense of persecution
• Fear
17. The Signs
• Chronic exhaustion/physical ailments
• Inability to listen/deliberate avoidance
• Helplessness/Hopelessness
• Guilt
24. Being a Non-Anxious Presence
You influencing you
• Have thoughts on purpose
• Unclenching
• Engage cyclical breathing
• Recognize your stress cue
• Remember differentiation
• Be careful about sharing anxiety
25. Break Time
15 minutes
For things to change,
we must change.
For things to get better,
we must get better.
~ Heidi Wills
27. The Ladder of Inference
(developed by Chris Argyris)
We begin with Real Data & Experience
(What is So)
We then Select Data & Experience that we
pay attention to.
To this Selected Data & Experience we
Affix Meaning. (Your Story)
We develop Assumptions, come to
Conclusions, and finally develop Beliefs.
Beliefs then form the basis of our Actions
which create additional Real Data &
Experience
28. If there were a magic pill…
…it would be gratitude.
• Articulate three skills you have that make you a valuable
member of your animal care team?
• What are three things you appreciate about the physical space
in which you work?
• What are three things you love about your home?
• Write down three compliments your best friends would give
you.
• Describe three ways you make life better for animals in your
community.
29. Providing a Good Death
• Framework
• We Thinking
• Your Self
• Structural Elements
• Tools
• Honoring the Moment
31. Closing the Day
• Share impressions
One or two concepts from today that were
particularly resonant
A commitment/declaration about your intention
A request for support
An acknowledgment
Something else?
32. Thank you for the
work you do!
Lauren Glickman
206-696-0850
lauren@forayconsulting.com
Hilary Anne Hager
240-753-3387
hhager@humanesociety.org