Compassion Fatigue and HEEFS by Susan Cleland, HEEFS Volunteer Project Coordinator
/If you are reading this, you are most likely an animal lover who takes comfort in the fact that HEEFS, and other sanctuaries around the world, offer a safe haven for animals who have suffered abuse, trauma or neglect. As volunteers and staff at HEEFS, we feel the same way, plus we witness daily each resident’s beautiful personality through interactive play, pizza parties, sled rides, truck rides, walks through the forest, socializing in Bunnytown, enrichment activities in the coops, belly rubs in the pastures, and so much more!
When we learn about the lives of farm animals outside of HEEFS, we see the Sammys, Poutys and Nancys of the world, and often feel completely overwhelmed. The Board of Directors and staff at HEEFS take this feeling of being overwhelmed, known as compassion fatigue, very seriously, and provide support through a variety of outlets.
Let’s take a closer look at compassion fatigue
Compassion fatigue is not unique to animal caregivers. It is common across all caregiver sectors including medical and social workers. What makes compassion fatigue unique amongst animal care workers is that we continuously provide care for animals who can’t speak for themselves, we’re advocating for animal welfare in general, we have to consider the very difficult decision of euthanasia, and, on top of all that, similar to other caregivers, we often find ourselves grieving the loss of those we could no longer help. To quote Julie Squires, a Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Certified Life Coach, “Compassion fatigue relates to the emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual exhaustion that results over time from repeatedly bearing witness to another’s emotional or physical distress.” The outcome of compassion fatigue can include a sense of depletion and burn out.
How HEEFS Helps
Each week, we have a “Compassion Fatigue Friday” post in our private, virtual break room, where we discuss what exhausts us, the symptoms we experience, and the importance of self-care. As Derek Walter often says, “We all know what happens when we withdraw too much from the bank…you need to make deposits.”
We also have a whiteboard in our actual break room at HEEFS where volunteers are invited to write down their responses to our weekly topics.
While we can’t eliminate compassion fatigue, we can help our volunteers and staff manage how they deal with it. It has been my great honour to help our amazing group understand how to identify why they are feeling depleted, provide some tools to help them cope, and stress the importance of making self-care a priority. Every day, we remind ourselves that in order to provide the best possible care for the HEEFS residents, we must first care for ourselves.
To read more about Compassion Fatigue, please visit Julie Squires’s website – Rekindle
