Reference no: EM132895166

Understanding Compassion Fatigue and Self-Care

• Imagine two human services professionals, Jim and Carrie, who both work with traumatized interviewees on a daily basis. Some of these interviewees have been victims of abuse or rape, while others are homeless, suicidal, or addicted to drugs. Both Jim and Carrie are effective interviewers who develop deep rapport with their interviewees through empathy and caring. However, the months and years of listening to stories of pain, hardship, and crisis take their toll on these two professionals.
• Jim begins to feel disillusioned about the world in general, wondering how society can allow such terrible things to happen to innocent, vulnerable people. He withdraws from his friends and family and starts spending most of his free time alone at bars and casinos. Carrie has frequent nightmares that resemble the traumatic experiences of some of her interviewees, and she has become increasingly fearful about her own family's well-being. She no longer allows her children to play at their friends' houses, and she had an expensive home security system installed.
• What do both Jim and Carrie have in common? You will discover the answer this week. In this final week of Effective Human Services Interviewing, you will explore healthy strategies professionals can employ to relieve their own stress and anxiety. You also will explore the issue of compassion fatigue, examine your potential risk of developing compassion fatigue in your work as a human services professional, and develop a plan for self-care to mitigate this risk. Finally, you will explore your future role as an agent of social change and consider how your interviewing skills could affect that role.

Objectives

Question 1: Analyze symptoms of compassion fatigue

Question 2: Apply self-care strategies for the prevention of compassion fatigue

Question 3: Apply strategies for becoming an effective human services professional

Question 4: Analyze the role of interviewing skills in promoting social change