Preventing Compassion Fatigue: Caring for Yourself

ABSTRACT

Hearing of children's experiences and fears can bring back unhappy memories that temporarily paralyze or haunt you. [...]if your program or home is in a neighborhood characterized by violence or poverty, you are likely to experience the same ongoing traumas as the children you teach. According to the NCTSN (2011) and the Administration for Children & Families (n.d.), the terms STS and compassion fatigue are interchangeable and refer to the same condition. Other symptoms resemble those experienced by individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as fear, guilt, anxiety, apathy, sense of hopelessness, sleep disturbances, nightmares and intrusive thoughts, hypervigilance, short-temperedness, and a denial of problems. Here are some ideas * Physical needs regularly eat nutritiously balanced meals;sleep adequately;exercise regularly;and monitor and attend to your health needs, making and keeping needed doctor and dental appointments and taking any medications as prescribed. * Social needs cultivate and maintain close friendships.