Avoiding Burnout

Last night I went to a foster care training which touched upon compassion fatigue.  Compassion Fatigue is a term that was initally coined in the 1950s after studying some of the occupational hazards unique to the nursing profession.  (That little fact wasn’t shared at the training, but since I am nerdy I googled some of the studies and research about compassion fatigue afterwards.)  Compassion fatigue can also be known as “burnout” and is related to secondary traumatic stress.   Here is an official Merriam-Webster definition of compassion fatigue:

Medical Definition of compassion fatigue

:the physical and mental exhaustion and emotional withdrawal experienced by those that care for sick or traumatized people over an extended period of time

Some researchers consider compassion fatigue to be similar to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), except that it applies to those emotionally affected by the trauma of another (eg, client or family member) rather than by one's own trauma.

 —Michael K. Kearney et al.,  The Journal of the American Medical Association,  18 Mar. 2009

One of the most interesting facts I learned at the training was the risk factors contributing to compassion fatigue.  And since I’m in student mode right now, I jotted them down on paper.

Our trainer sited these three risk factors for developing compassion fatigue:

- Being FEMALE.  (Females are more likely to develop compassion fatigue than their male counterparts.)

 -Being an EMPATH by nature.

-  Having UNRESOLVED TRAUMA.

I don’t know which particular study was the reference for these three risk factors (hence my aforementioned Googling), but they totally make sense to me.

I’d like to briefly examine each of these factors. 

As to the first risk factor:  The “being female” factor seems like a given.  At the risk of sounding sexist, it appears that certain helping professions- such as nursing and social work- seem to statistically have a lot more women than men employed.  Although I do admit I have had some great post-op nurses who were male.

The majority of foster parents I know are also female- whether their marital status is single and they’re doing all of the fostering without a partner or spouse or if they are married, most times the female is the primary caregiver in providing foster care, which is why I have to have twelve hours of in-service training a year to renew my foster care license and my husband only has to complete four hours. 

As to being empathetic by nature- totally makes sense.  What person is going to decide to go through the process of becoming a foster parent (or a social worker or a nurse) if they aren’t empathetic by nature?  It just seems like a logical fit; people choose those professions because they are natural helpers and they care about others.  Case in point: How many foster parents or social workers go into that line of service or work because they are motivated to make loads of money?  (That comment was both rhetorical and highly sarcastic).

As for the third factor, having unresolved trauma, I ABSOLUTELY see how that could be a risk factor leading to increased burnout, especially in the case of fostering.  If someone had an abusive home life growing up or even if they had a relatively safe and stable home life but have had an experience of bullying or sexual assault it seems more than likely that having a child in their home who has been through similar victimization circumstances will bring up some triggers. 

I think the keyword in the phrase “having unresolved trauma” is the word unresolved.  Because who hasn’t experienced trauma, right?  Very few people go through life unscathed.

A large part of discussion at the training was, inevitably: What are we doing as foster parents to prevent burnout?  I think that answer can be summed up in two words: self-care.  And while self-care is going to look different to everyone- one person may use running or physical activity as their preferred form of self-care while another may prefer relaxing in a bubble bath, whatever works for you is necessary. 

It’s also interesting to me as both a foster parent and a graduate student of social work that my professors- just one semester into our program- have continually stressed the importance of self-care as well as exploring and resolving, if necessary, any unresolved personal issues we may have in order to not get “triggered” when working with clients in similar circumstances.

Another topic the training I attended last night touched upon was the impact that fostering can have on a marriage and also on the other children in the family.  This is a topic which could be worthy of a whole separate post or two! [I’m making a mental note of that].

I guess the bottom line is that it is ESSENTIAL to take care of yourself first before you can take care of anybody else.  (Ironically, this counsel is coming from the woman who got her kids fed, bathed, and out the door for school by 8:30, but who still hasn’t taken a shower herself an hour later.)  But that’s totally okay, because for me, personally, writing (while wearing my sweats) is part of my self-care/unwinding/processing “me time” regimen.