Compassion Fatigue Solutions

What I've been up to
I'm off to Winnipeg tomorrow to offer a Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer to the Canadian Association of School Social Workers and Attendance Counsellors. If my last visit to the Peg is anything to base expectations on, I am looking forward to a very welcoming and enthusiastic group.

Thursday night I had the privilege of presenting to a group of occupational and physiotherapists who work as preceptors for Queen's University. I would like to thank them personally here for their warm hospitality and willingness to laugh at my bad jokes! (ie the microphone). I also would like to say a special hello to Catherine D. organiser of this keynote and someone who confessed that she reads this blog - [Hi Catherine, please thank your husband/hockey coach extraordinaire for driving my son to hockey Thursday.]

Next week, I will be in Ottawa on Tuesday, working with a non-profit housing group, Toronto on Thursday, presenting to a school board and Montreal on Saturday, offering a workshop to a women's shelter. Fittingly enough, Saturday is December 6th. For some of us (Montrealers and Violence against Women activists everywhere) this date has particular painful resonance. If you are not familiar with this, I invite you to google December 6th 1989 Montreal. (How's that for low impact disclosure?)

Then, I will take a wee break and bake cookies and try and figure out what on earth is a good teacher gift. Well, that's not entirely true, I still have a "day job" as a therapist but I will be working part time for the rest of December.

I am putting the final touches on a new web store where I be will featuring workbooks and compassion fatigue training materials as early as January. I am very excited about this project as it will mean that many of you with limited professional development budgets will have the option to purchase training materials for a fraction of the price of bringing a speaker to your agency.

A few community notices:

You may already know that the Canadian blood supply is at an all time low. The Red Cross is calling for all eligible donors to roll up their sleeves before the holidays.

The Salvation Army is asking that you consider making a donation to a food bank program this month. In my community, I noticed that Loblaws and TD bank have food bank donation boxes at the front of their stores. Another way to help out is to contribute to your local mitten/winter coat drive for kids. I was invited to present a keynote this week and everyone brought a food bank donation to the meal. Maybe these are things that you already do?

My mother has always been someone with a strong social conscience: For my 12th birthday, she took me to a large rehabilitation hospital in Montreal to help out at the christmas party. I got to serve turkey dinners alongside prison parolees (who were doing their bit for the community) and was taught how to respectfully and efficiently feed someone who was physically unable to do so themselves. I must say that it was in fact probably the best birthday I had ever had. Certainly the one with the biggest learning curve. I always think about this experience as this time of year rolls around. For my own children's allowance, I stole an idea from a friend and created three jars: Spend, Save and Share. They put a third in each jar and then decide where and how they will distribute the Share portion. Granted, it might be 50 cents or 5 dollars, but it's still a contribution.

Finally, an invitation to reflect on the busy time that December can be for many of us. Are you someone who gets harried and exhausted before the holidays? If so, I would invite you to review the "musts" from the "coulds". In my extended family, we made a decision three years ago to stop giving each other gifts. We still get together and share good food and play games and music, but no more gifts. Everyone agreed and breathed a sigh of relief. (well, not everyone, a few people were disappointed). I still give presents to my children and make something homemade for a few close friends, but that's it. Grandparents asked to be excluded from this deal and be allowed to give the children something which is totally fine. But my December has become a very simple (and cheap) experience indeed.