20/01/2020
Het is voor iedereen fijn om een (klein) ritueel in te bouwen in de dag, waarin je de indrukken van je dag verteerd en loslaat wat niet meer dient. Je houdt er je hoofd en emoties helder mee en je lijf vitaal.
Ik kan genieten van het terugfietsen, of een moment van meditatie, de basis van 5 elementen yoga of het Levenskrachtritueel.
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Secondary Traumatic Stress and Compassion Fatigue
It is challenging to work in any aspect of health care. Whether we are in addiction services, Western medical care, psychological services or traditional Oriental medicine, we not only encounter a range of physical and psychological symptoms and syndromes, but we are also in contact with patients who are by definition stressed.
These stresses range from situational reactions to post-traumatic stress disorder, to the consequences of complex childhood trauma. In some fashion that seems to defy the laws of physics, patient stresses seem to leap from
the patient to the health care professional.
Shiatsu practitioners, because of the depth of our relationships with patients, caring for physical, psychological and emotional symptomology, commitment to restoring people to healthy homeostasis and our stance of listening to the patient fully, are particularly susceptible to the stress-inducing negative consequences of so much patient connection. In short - Shiatsu practitioners are at risk of being overwhelmed.
Vicarious trauma – also referred to as secondary trauma – can be defined as the way the health care worker may have their psychological life unintentionally redefined and transformed because of their connection to and empathetic openness with the traumas of their patients.
Some practitioners call this condition “compassion fatigue.” It is rarely the result of a one-off patient or event. Instead, the process is cumulative; different in effect, but not in scope from complex traumas, in which one compounds or heightens the impact of a previous trauma.
The priority that all health care professions place on client well-being can tend to shift the focus away from the therapist and toward the patient, which means the professional may neglect self-assessment and self-orientation.
This selflessness may appear to be in the service of patients, but carries the possibility of being iatrogenic. Compassion fatigue affects not just the professional but also her or his level of care and the clinical environment, as well as personal relationships with spouse, parents and friends.
Fortunately, health care professionals have created simple and pleasant rituals for the end of their shifts and office days that help to partition life in a helpful way and manage personal anxiety and stress:
- A short period of meditation and quiet upon returning home, or even getting into one’s car, as a way to manage the transition from workplace to ordinary life and process secondary trauma and stress.
- Exercise of any kind, especially with a meditative component such as taiji, qigong and yoga.
- Religious and spiritual practice, whether in a traditional or less conventional setting.
- Formal, regular debriefing with a trusted peer.
Compassion fatigue is real. It is not, however, inevitable or unmanageable. Shiatsu practitioners can recognize it, take countermeasures and restore themselves to a place where each day’s work holds all the promise it once did.
Adapted from an article by Nadiya Melnyk. https://www.acupuncturetoday.com/digital/index.php?i=744&s=12041&l=502&a_id=33788&pn=31&r=t&Page=4
Photo: www.bhphoto.com.au
