Here are a few of my favorites (check ’em all out, no matter what field you’re in – what’s good for a nurse is good for an animal protection officer is good for a personal caregiver!).
Good places to start:
Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project
TEND Academy
Articles + Videos by Jessica:
Radio MD podcast: Compassion Fatigue 101 for animal care workers
IAABC Behavior Live!: a fun 30 minute Facebook Live interview about compassion fatigue
IAABC Journal: Expressive Writing for Resilience in Animal Care Professions
IDA: Write to Resilience Webinar (using journal writing to increase compassion resilience)
Compassion Fatigue Education (what you should know, if you want to hire or be a CF educator)
HeARTs Speak: Self-Care Tips and Where Do Your Stories Go?
Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science: In Their Own Words: What Qualitative Analysis of Online Discussions with Students Reveals about Their Experiences with Compassion Fatigue in Shelter Medicine
Assessments:
Professional Quality of Life (ProQol) Test
Self Care Assessment
Secondary Traumatic Stress Informed Organization Assessment (STSI-OA)
Compassion Fatigue Resources For Animal Caregivers:
AVMA’s Wellness and Peer Assistance
Humane Society for Shelter Pets resources
HSUS Animal Sheltering articles bu Lauren Glickman
Compassion Fatigue – a primer by Enid Traisman, DoveLewis
VetGirl webinar: Suicide in Veterinary Medicine
AVMA webinar: Staying Afloat Professional Stress and Wellbeing
Suicide Awareness in Veterinary Education – U of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine (hotline assistance available to all animal care + welfare professionals)
In Defense of Animals Council of Sustainable Activism
Dr. Michele Gaspar: Healing the Wounded Healer
Patricia Smith 3 Part Webinar on Compassion Fatigue for Petsmart Charities
DVM360 Burden of Care
NOMV (Not One More Vet) for veterinarians and veterinary students
AAHA’s Guide to Veterinary Practice Team Wellbeing
Vets4Vets® and Support4Support confidential support groups
MightVet education and mentorship
Day By Day Pet Caregiver Support
Organizational Health in Sheltering:
Euthanasia-related strain and coping strategies
Employee turnover in animal shelters
Improving Organizational Communication
The People Practices Self-Check
Hiring the Right People for Your Culture
Please Curb Your Volunteer
Compassion Fatigue Resources In Other Fields:
Headington Institute (excellent site geared towards humanitarian aid workers)
The Schwartz Center for compassionate healthcare
The Caregiver Space (for personal caregivers)
The Garrison Institute (aid workers)
Self Care + Stress Management:
University of Buffalo School of Social Work (self care toolkit)
Dr. Emma Seppala: The Science of Well-Being
Top 12 Self-Care Tips by Francoise Mathieu
Meditation + Mindfulness
Simple, guided recordings on my SoundCloud page
The Open Heart Project (free meditation videos)
Self Guided Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program
Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life
Headspace (offers free memberships to nonprofits) and Whil are both awesome
Books
When Helping Hurts: Compassion Fatigue in the Veterinary Profession by Kathleen Ayl, PsD
Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
The Compassion Fatigue Workbook by Francoise Mathieu
Give to Your Heart’s Content, Without Giving Yourself Away by Linda Harper PhD
Animal Friendly – Customer Smart: People Skills for Animal Shelters by Jan Elster
Self Compassion by Kristen Neff, PhD
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.
Full Catastrophe Living by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn
Real Happiness at Work by Sharon Salzberg
Zen Under Fire: How I Found Peace in the Midst of War by Marianne Elliott
The Caregivers: A Support Group’s Stories of Slow Loss, Courage, and Love by Nell Lake
Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion by Pema Chodron
Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence by Rick Hanson
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being by Martin Seligman
Bouncing Back Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being by Linda Graham
Rising Strong and The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown, PhD
The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D.
Handouts
(popular handouts from my workshops and online class)
Limited Impact Disclosure created by Francoise Mathieu, Compassion Fatigue Solutions/TEND
Self-Care Guidelines developed by The Green Cross Academy of Traumatology
ProQOL assesment created by Beth Stamm
