Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Here is, as promised, the list of the 75 self care strategies workshop participants came up with during the June 1st presentation of Walking the Walkin Toronto. I invite you to read through them and see whether you could make a commit to following through on three of the strategies in the coming month?

1. Try a new delicious sounding recipe
2. Hire a housekeeper
3. Leave the office at least 3 times per week at lunchtime
4. Get out of the city and reconnect with nature
5. Sit by the ocean/lake/water
6. Bike riding
7. Watch an emotional movie
8. Lose the fear of digital photography
9. Read more novels
10. Learn 1 new piece of music
11. Take your lunch to work
12. Take a walk at lunch
13. De-clutter at work
14. Be more respectful of work hours
15. Stop procrastinating with paperwork/admin
16. Develop and value transition ritual from work to home
17. Do something physical
18. Pack a lovely lunch once a week
19. Sit in a park once a week, walk in the woods and look at the trees
20. Outsource your least favourite household task or delegate to partner (eg cleaning the house, gardening, vacuuming the car)
21. Go out and have fun once a week
22. Explore community options (eg free yoga class at centre, AGO free on weds nights)
23. Arrange for regular peer consultation
24. Have lunch once a week with colleague
25. Have lunch once a week with a person in another field
26. Find a poem and share it with someone
27. Try a new restaurant/cuisine
28. Try something new: a language, music, hobby, skill, sport
29. Have a "media fast" for a week including cell phone if possible
30. Get outside into nature
31. Go out for ice cream in the middle of the day
32. Take a course that is not work-related
33. Tour of museum/gallery (i.e. learn from another expert)
34. Carve out 3 hours per week without a plan
35. Close your office door for 30 minutes per day
36. Step outside every day for 15 minutes
37. Exercise for 30 minutes per day
38. Listen to or play music for 20 minutes per day
39. Enjoy/pay attention when eating (don't multi task)
40. Take 15 minutes per day for quiet reflection
41. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier at night
42. Take breaks during work: walk, stretch, balance fluids, have a protein snack midmorning and midafternoon
43. Debrief with colleagues
44. Adapt schedule ie: don't schedule challenging clients back to back
45. Create a calming environment at work: plant, music
46. Create a nurturing environment at home: orderly, tidy
47. Break down dreaded tasks
48. Hire experts to get some of your chores done
49. Cook extra for lunches
50. Baths
51. Spend more time with partner/spouse
52. Once a month, clean your car inside and out
53. Buy yourself flowers regularly
54. Schedule 1 day per month off work for yourself
55. Get a massage
56. Organise your desk at work
57. Schedule a self-nurturing activity every two weeks (e.g. spa, nice meal, movies, etc.)
58. Sleep in
59. Drink water
60. Read something fun (not professional and not news)
61. Declutter your home and/or office
62. Take walks
63. Annual time off to prioritise and plan year
64. Be mindful
65. Get supervision
66. Get trainings by theme
67. Plan social get-togethers
68. Do something you've never done
69. Set limits, say no and don't backtrack
70. Spend quality time with loved ones
71. Have fun on a regular basis
72. Develop a hobby unrelated to work
73. Read fiction
74. Hang out with positive people
75. Plan menus in advance

The Compassion Fatigue workbook is based on the one day workshop Walking the Walk: Creative Tools for Transforming Compassion Fatigue, which has been offered across Canada to thousands of helpers in the fields of healthcare, community mental health, correctional services, education and the military since 2001. This Workbook was designed for distance learners and those who prefer working at their own pace.

The Workbook offers a comprehensive description of compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization and leads the reader through experiential activities designed to target specific areas in their personal and professional lives. It provides concrete strategies to help the reader develop a personalised strategic plan for identifying and transforming compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization.

Topics covered include:
Understanding compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma
Symptom checklist, targeting areas for strategic planning, understanding warning signs
Assessing contributing factors; Evaluating self-care, identifying triggers
Solutions: personal, professional and organizational strategies

No. of pages: 85 pages - Spiral bound
Copy Price: $59.00 CAN plus shipping
**Bulk rates available for orders of 20 copies or more. Contact whp@cogeco.ca for bulk orders

To purchase this workbook, you can visit the CF Solutions Bookstore.

CBC Radio's The Current is an excellent current affairs show that airs weekday mornings. I caught two fascinating interviews in the past two days:

1) An interview with Jeff Rubin, former Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets on his new book "Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization" Listen to the podcast by clicking here.

2) This morning, Anna-Maria Tremonti spoke to Dr David Kessler about his new book "The end of overeating: taking control of the insatiable american appetite". Kessler is the former FDA commissioner under presidents Bush and Clinton. The podcast should be up by the end of today.

(Springtime in Umea, Sweden)

-Compassion Fatigue Workshop: If you would like to attend one day Compassion Fatigue Workshop, I will be presenting in Toronto on June 1st, 2009 via Leading Edge Seminars. I invite you to visit their website for more information.

-Compassion Fatigue Workbook: I have not been posting as regularly as usual because I have been busy working on the final revisions of the Compassion Fatigue Workbook, which is going to press next week. I have been toiling on this workbook for several years now (and, yes, let's be honest, procrastinating as well, which means that my office is completely free of clutter right now, down to the last paper clip), but finally, the workbook is ready. It will be available on the CF solutions bookstore in a week or so. It was designed as a distance learning version of the one day CF workshop - the goal is to offer the experiential and academic material in a user-friendly workbook format.

-Mindfulness: I have been truly enjoying simple activities that make life such a wonderful thing: flying a kite with my best friend last weekend - a chinese dragon with a very long tail (the kite, not my friend), going to sleep in crisp, freshly laundered sheets that were dried on the laundry line in the sun (there is no smell like it, no wonder soap companies try to match this fragrance, but it cannot be done). Eating a plate of freshly picked fiddleheads in vinaigrette. Planting beans and tomatoes and hoping the squirrels don't eat them all.

I am always amused by the way Spring lands on our doorstep in this part of Canada. It's not a gradual event, rather it's an explosion - two or three hot days and boom spring is here and the buds are exploding and everything is sprouting in a matter of minutes.

Totally unrelated: just came back from viewing the new Star Trek movie - loved it! If you were a fan of the original series, you will not be disappointed. If you have no idea what Star Trek is, you're clearly younger than me!

Now back to writing and proofreading. I hope you have a chance to enjoy simple moments of mindfulness too.

PREVNet presents is 4th Annual Conference

Life without Bullying:
Highlighting the latest knowledge, tools and strategies to address bullying issues from infancy through adulthood with
Canada's leading experts.

June 5th, 2009
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Toronto, On.

Click here for Online Registration

The registration fees are:
$270 CAD (tax included) after May 1, 2009
$100 CAD (tax included) for Students that show proof of full-time enrollment during sign-in at the conference.

Note: Online registration requires a credit card payment. If you prefer to pay by cheque, please contact Caroline Teske (PREVNet’s Administrative Coordinator) for mail-in registration forms at: prevnet@queensu.ca or phone: 613-533-2632.

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Grounding Trauma: 2 day national conference


June 23-24, 2009
Huron University College
London, On.

Cost: $280 plus gst
To register: email gt@cast-canada.ca
For more info: www.cast-canada.ca

The Grounding Trauma Conference:
The effects of traumatic stress and loss are a persistent factor for people working in the helping professions. Any lack of acceptance, training or comfort with traumatic stress and loss may cause pain to both clients and workers.

What is working well?
We are presenting many informative workshops about successes in working with trauma survivors as well as support for the worker and organization.

What more needs to be done?
Are post-secondary programs adequately preparing students to do this work? Are agency work environments as supportive to staff and clients as they could be? We will explore what needs to be done and how can we start doing it !

Highlights:

Dr. Rick Csiernik - "Trauma Exposure and the Social Work Practicum"
author of "Responding to the Oppression of Addiction." Prof Csiernik will present his research on trauma experienced during social work student practicums at one Canadian school of Social Work.

Hannah Sherebrin, RN ATR - "The Puzzle - an Art therapy Support group model" A hands on workshop. Hannah has been leading art therapy groups in Israel for parents whose children have been killed by terrorists or the army.

I realise I haven't posted in a while as I have been travelling a fair bit. First port of call two weeks ago was Sarnia, then Brantford and now Winnipeg. I also had the pleasure of hosting Dr Pat Fisher for the 2 day Manager's workshop which was a very rich experience. I will post something longer when I return home. It is freezing in the Peg and snowflakes have been spotted!

"Practitioners Share their Most Effective Interventions: A collection of creative counselling techniques developed by practitioners from across North America" Edited by best-selling author Liana Lowenstein, available free of charge on her website.