Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Not by my own choosing, mind you, but my computer crashed last weekend. It was kaput, finito, dead as a doornail. Apparently the hard drive was damaged and "could have gone at any moment" said the repair person. The good news is that I have been pretty good about backing up my files (not perfect, though and not unlike a break-in, it's only weeks later that you think "where's that thing? I haven't seen it in ages" only to realise it was part of what went missing.) But I'm in pretty good shape, all things considered.

So, for those of you who are lackadaisical about backing up your files, a word to the wise. My computer savvy hubby says we should all back up our computers every single night at the end of a day's work. He also recommends using gmail as an email server, as it will store both received and sent mail from your computer and you will never again lose your sent mails (which is a big issue for me as it is where I do the bulk of my work). I am sure some things will fall through the cracks though, so if you emailed me recently and have not heard back from you, can you write again? Thanks and sorry in advance.

Last week was rather training-intense, with two half day sessions with oncology and palliative care staff in Montreal, and three days with York Region's community and health services. I had a lot of fun. I enjoy meeting new people and hearing about the work that they do, with its challenges and rewards and pitfalls along the way. I particularly appreciated the training space at York Region's Newmarket site. When you do a lot of training, you become pretty attuned to group dynamics and the impact that a training space has on people who are, after all, kind of trapped together for a whole day. This space had a ton of natural light (big windows), high ceilings, carpet on the floor (good acoustics), comfortable chairs and enough space to move around. It really makes a difference to the whole experience. Thank you to Nancy Hogue for driving me all over the GTA and not laughing at my geographical dismay!

Now I am back in quiet little Kingston where driving my boys to the football game took approximately 1.5 minute (go gaels go) and getting front row seats to the santa claus parade meant arriving 5 minutes early and sitting in a local restaurant with front row (warm) seats for the show. I cannot say enough about the quality of life offered by living in a small community.

On the menu this week: The two day Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer workshop (if you are interested in attending this training down the road, please visit my website and also note that there are only 20 seats per session and that this course fills up very quickly) I will not be offering a June session this year as I cannot get the training space that I want, so after the March session, I will likely not be offering this course again until the Fall. I am then going to Elizabeth Bruyere in Ottawa for a palliative care conference.

Have a great week, don't forget to tell your computer that you love it, and after giving it a big wet kiss, back it up right away.

Hi, how are you? Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? :-)

I had a very interesting week and had the pleasure of presenting at the stunning Dundurn Castle in Hamilton to professionals working in developmental pediatrics at Hamilton Health Sciences and in the community. Thank you for your warm hospitality and for tolerating my big booboo at the train station (basically I made someone wait for me for 1.5 hours due to a comedy of errors...so sorry...)

The week ahead is a busy one: I will be presenting at the CHUM in Montreal on Tuesday, working with health care staff from palliative care and oncology. Then, it's off to Newmarket to work with Ontario Works staff from York Region, for three days of training. Next week is the two day Compassion Fatigue Train the trainer back home in Kingston. For those of you who may be interested in attending the next Train the Trainer, which is being held in March, please note that there are only 20 spots available and that registrations are coming in fairly steadily, therefore to avoid disappointment, please consider registering soon. Please also note that from March onwards, there will be a prerequisite to attend the Train the Trainer workshop: you must have completed a full day or half day "Walking the Walk" session at some point in the past or simply attend the one day training being offered on the day prior to the Train the Trainer session. For more information click here.

Something new: I will be offering an e-learning session for a private group in a couple of weeks via a process called Fireside Chat: it's a very simple and affordable process whereby participants use their laptop and a phone line to take part in a teleconference while being able to view the power point slides. If I like it, I might use this to start offering some distance learning sessions in the new year.

I am changing decades in two weeks. Gulp.

Finally, if you are building a christmas wish list for yourself, I would like to recommend some good old standbys from my library:

Take time for your life by Cheryl Richardson
Mindfulness-based stress reduction cd package by Jon Kabat-Zinn
50 ways to simplify your life by Patrick Fanning

In peace,

Françoise

I received several emails this week from people who read this blog. It was very nice as it puts faces to my readers and I'm never sure who is "out there" actually reading these posts. So, Hello dear friends and colleagues (Hi Deb - it was lovely to have tea yesterday, we should do that more often. Go write that book, it's going to be a fantastic resource!).

I am posting my blog post early this week as I am taking Monday off - it's been a hectic past few weeks with a lot of travelling and presenting, and it's time for a bit of self care for this workshop presenter.

This was an interesting week: I presented a one hour talk on PTSD to a second year Abnormal Psychology class at Queen's University (weird timing given the Texas shooting, I'll return to that in a minute) and offered an evening and a one day session for the Alzheimer's Society here in Kingston. The evening session was for family caregivers and the day for helping professionals. I learned a lot during both events. I can tell you one thing: when I am elderly and in need of long term care, I hope to receive care from people such as the ones on the panel. These folks, most of whom have been looking after elderly patients with dementia for 20-30 years, radiated with compassion for their clients. When they described why they love their work, their faces started lighting up. I can't quite capture it now, as it is 6am and I'm about to take my son to play hockey, but it was something very moving. Everyone on the panel also spoke of their self care strategies and it was clear that they have remained compassionate and resilient because, in part, they had learned to care for themselves both physically and emotionally. All of them exercise on a regular basis, try to eat well and have a strong support network.

It was also wonderful to present to family caregivers. These folks have been caring for a loved one with for years, often on their own, often in their homes until they can no longer do it. I hope I was able to offer a little bit of support to them, in my limited ways. It was certainly an honour to meet you all.

I will not wade into the massive speculation that took place in the media this week surrounding the psychiatrist who went postal and killed a dozen military personnel in Texas. If you have google alert you will have been deluged with posts discussing and speculating on whether this man suffered from vicarious trauma and whether that is what led him to kill. The problem with the internet, of course, is that there is a lot of rubbish being written by pretty much anyone who can type, and there is some good stuff in among all that. I found a good discussion on the topic, written by Drs Figley and Pearlman and other solid sources, so I invite you go read this to if you want a sensible analysis of the few facts that are known at this time.

As for me, I'm off to Hamilton this week to present to helpers who work in developmental pediatrics. I also want to rake leaves, make soup and go for a run in the crisp November air. I hope you also have a good week and can fit in some time to exercise, stretch and breathe.

Namaste.