Compassion Fatigue Solutions

I am right in the middle of reading this book but wanted to share it with you as it is such a find. The author has over 20 years of trauma work under her belt and brings a very fresh look to vicarious trauma.

She explains the use of the term stewardship in the following way: "As I see 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. In the dictionary stewardship is defined as "the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care." (Van Dernoot Lipsky, 2009)

I was instantly grabbed by the book's introduction, called On the Cliff of Awakening, which articulated something I could completely relate to (so could thousands of helpers I have met along the way.)

To quote from her intro:

"Are you sure all this trauma work hasn't gotten to you?" He asked.
We were visiting our relatives in the Caribbean. We had hiked to the top of some cliffs on a small island, and for a moment the entire family stood quietly together, marveling, looking out at the sea. It was an exquisite sight. There was turquoise water as far as you could see, a vast, cloudless sky, and air that felt incredible to breathe. As we reached the edge of the cliffs, my first thought was, "This is unbelievably beautiful." My second thought was "I wonder how many people have killed themselves by jumping of these cliffs." Assuming that everyone around me would be having exactly the same thought, I posed my question out loud. My stepfather-in-law turned to me slowly and asked his question with such sincerity that I finally understood: my work had gotten to me. I didn't even tell him the rest of what I was thinking; "Where will the helicopter land? Where is the closest Level 1 trauma center" [...] this was the first time I truly comprehended the degree to which my work had transformed the way that I engaged with the world. " (Van Dernoot Lipsky, 2009)

I will share more about this book as I read on, but so far, it's very engaging.

Chapter headings are:
Part One: Understanding Trauma Stewardship
Part Two: Mapping your Response to Trauma Exposure
Part Three: Creating Change from the Inside Out
Part Four: Finding your Way to Trauma Stewardship