A couple of weeks ago I provided a brief presentation on Compassion Fatigue for Helping Professionals for the St. Leonard’s 2nd Annual Addictions and Mental Health Forum. As often happens after a presentation/workshop some of the participants came up to chat. I have been providing these workshops for over three years now and I am still amazed that so many people are unfamiliar with the concepts of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma. I am reminded of why I love this work each time someone approaches me and expresses gratitude for giving them a name for their experiences. The feelings of isolation, frustration, exhaustion and worry become associated with something they can now name and recover from.
If you work in the helping field, or with people who have had very difficult/traumatic experiences in life, you may benefit from assessing your level of Compassion Fatigue!
The ProQOL is the most commonly used measure of the negative and positive affects of helping others who experience suffering and trauma. The ProQOL has sub-scales for compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue.
The measure has been in use since 1995. There have been several revisions. The ProQOL 5 is the current version.
Professional Quality of Life Score
To learn more about Compassion Fatigue Click Here
For Organization wishing to host a Compassion Fatigue Workshop Click Here
Did you learn about Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma in school? I’d love to hear your comments about the topic!
Cheers,
Charlene