Secondary Trauma and Compassion Fatigue
Hannah Green
Image Cicely Mary Barker
Happy February…
Deep sleeps the Winter,
Cold, wet, and grey;
Surely all the world is dead;
Spring is far away.
Wait! the world shall waken;
It is not dead, for lo,
The Fair Maids of February
Stand in the snow!
~Cicely Mary Barker
Hello and sending best! I am looking forward to February and the Celtic celebration of Imbolc. My husband and I like to make all our candles for the year around this time. It is so fun meting the wax, adding fragrance and pouring our mixture into little containers. Sometimes we use old tea cups and sprinkle in dried rose petals or other dried flowers. Making candles is easy. You can find lots of full kits on etsy here.
Secondary Trauma/Compassion Fatigue
It's not been an easy start to the year for many of us. I encourage everyone to practice as much self care as possible. Therapists and other health care providers learn about secondary trauma and compassion fatigue as part of their training. These are things that everyone should know about now because even if we don't work in these fields we are vulnerable to both. It has been nearly a year now that we have been dealing with the changes and stressors related to the pandemic. We are all on a spectrum of loss, change and transformation. Secondary trauma or compassion fatigue can happen when for extended periods of time we are hearing about, witnessing or helping someone who is experiencing trauma or distress. Some symptoms are exhaustion, irritability, having persistent feelings of not doing enough or being enough and disturbed sleep. The good news is, if we are experiencing any of this - there is a solution.
Name our symptoms as compassion fatigue or secondary trauma
Avoid optional sources of re-traumatization like the news or social media
"Empty out." This looks different for different people. Some possible ways to empty out are:
spend an extended period of time in nature
take time off work
take a break from screens and immerse yourself in the elements (air, water, fire and earth)
develop/deepen a prayer and meditation practice
Let me know if there are other resources, rituals or tools you recommend!