Compassion Fatigue

Compassion Fatigue (notes) There is a course in Kingston by Francoise Mathieu who teaches there regarding this topic. It is 20 hours long and I would love to take this course but it is too far and too long for me being away. It may or may not be something I would consider in the future. Our instructor took this course and so I shall be sharing with you. The training is “Walk the Walk.” So, here goes. What is Compassion Fatigue? (Figley (1982). We are all profoundly effected by the work we do and if we are not, we may be suffering from compassionate fatigue. Our work though mostly rewarding can be difficult. Difficult clients, case loads - we are at primary risk for compassionate fatigue. It is an occupational hazard. There are three terms. Compassionate fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burn Out. Compassionate Fatigue refers to the profound emotional and physical erosion that takes place. Vicarious Trauma - stories we hear from our clients. Burn-out - exhaustion. The difference: we have not lost compassion. Why Compassionate Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma? 1. Nature of the work - case content and workload (what is our balance). 2. Our own vulnerabilities. Eg. if we are grieving, our own trauma, experience etc….more vulnerable. 3. Cynical and negative colleagues. 4. Insufficient training. Risk Factors: The more trauma cases you have, the more likely you are to develop Vicarious Trauma. - Inexperience (emotional impactful) - being isolated from other therapists (private practice). Huge risk factor. Our own trauma history. Negative and positive implications. - Personal injury or illness. concurrent life crises - divorce, grief. Don’t have the energy. Stress is cumulative. Migrating Factors : 1. Access to social support (at home and at work). 2. Working part time doing trauma work is highly protective. Variety is healthier (that is what I do). 3. Reflection on compassion satisfaction. 4. Adequate training about Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burn Out is protective. Next Week Signs and symptoms of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma.

Catch up and bringing you up to date - Who to Vote for in this election. My woe.

I was going to provide you with more notes about sex and aging but I believe it fell behind my desk drawer which I will have to take apart and I am not prepared to undertake that mission right now. So, I shall take that as a sign to stop talking about the Guelph Conference and move to my next workshop of professional development titled Compassion Fatigue. I shall do that in my next entry which I will do right after I submit this entry. Soon we will be returning to the polls to vote. I am still undecided. How are you doing? Any better? Watching my English version of the debate was not inspiring. They were loud, talking over each other, taking cheap shots of each other and I wondered if they were not so lucky, as I was in elementary school where in grade eight we learned how to debate. Who is giving a cheap shot now, hey? I was hoping for a civilized debate where each person would just tell us what their objective for our country is. I wasn’t really impressed with anyone fully. We are so busy making fun of Trump when we should be focusing on our own problems. Let me see how I can deduce who I should vote for? We have Trudeau who concerned me when he bought a pipe line and concerned me more when the Attorney General exposed being forced out of office when he wanted to change the rules so a big business corporation would not face criminal charges. Trudeau said it was to save jobs. For you who have been reading my blogs or reading my books, know by now that I believe in equality, and that includes the law. I could forgive everything else. That bothered me. Then we have the Conservative party which seem to support big corporations and I am doubtful they are concerned about global warming. Then we have the NDP and the Green Party. The Green party takes global warming very seriously as much as I do. However, they want to legalize drug possession. Again, you know how I am against drugs especially since I see the destruction of people who are addicted. When things are legalized it gives the public that it is safe and it is not. Then we also had the peoples party talk and I have my concerns as well as the Quebec block. I do think we need more public newscasts of all candidates to make an informed decision. There is too much at risk nowadays. There is an increase in crime, an increase in my city of shootings and gangs etc…..There is a bigger divide between the rich and poor etc….Instead of learning from other countries, we are joining them in our descent. Racism which I had foolishly believed had been obliterated is not only in existent to the most naive, but growing. Why? Bullying is rampant in schools and it is not being handled at all well. Just recently a high school in Hamilton had a child stabbed to death while his mother watched. There is nothing worse that a child dying but actually seeing it being done and not able to stop it is devastating for the parent. How did this happen? Teens from the school now are telling the media how prevalent bullying is at that school. Why has it got this far? Shameful. So, when I watch a debate program of people who want to run my country, I expect a level of maturity deserving of the job. I expect honesty and would love to see people who cannot keep their promise being forced to step down. So, yes, I am undecided. I will vote, I just don’t know for who. I am sure many of you have been in this boat before. I honestly think we need to revamp the entire system. We keep making the same mistakes and greater ones. Politicians should listen to experts in their field and not think they are beyond the people. As I deduce who I should vote for, I know that the most serious concern right now is Global Warming. I think more people are becoming aware of how devastating this will be. Perhaps I should vote for the person who will try their best for this cause and to eliminate poverty at home and the world. However, that person will not win, so should I vote for someone to keep someone else from power? I have a bit more time to think about this. What do you think? What are your challenges when it comes to voting? Why is there so much polarization? What do you think? I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. We do have a lot to be thankful. We still live in a beautiful planet and share with so many. God bless.

Sexuality and Aging

I am going to start this because I promised but will continue next week. I need to catch up because I am booking for workshops/seminars etc….and didn’t even finish this Guelph Conference yet. That’s what happens when I try to write to you about three days worth. This lecture was provided by Clinical Psychologist, Dr T. Kukkonen, Phd, CPSYCA. She is a sexual researcher. This is from a bio social perspective. Dr Kukkonen reported that there is sparse information on the topic. There are a lot of myths of sexuality. Society thinks of reproductive life and then nothing. One undergrad said sex ends when you have kids. Surprised, but the idea is still prevalent. Dr Kukkonen spoke that sexuality is a wonderful way to enjoy life. Increase sexual satisfaction (not casual) is significant to happiness and health. Age related facts - Sex does not occur in a vacuum. Chronological age is not equal to biologic age. The physical changes. Exercise and eat well to slow down the changes. Physical changes are the thinning of the vaginal wall. Less lubrication; less muscle tension; less intensity of organism; increase of painful intercourse; chronic and acute illnesses. Sedentary individuals have significant increase in risk of myocardial infarction (MI) during sexual activity as compared to a physical active individual. Sexual activity is the cause of less of 1% of all acute MI. Impact Arthritis: decrease in increase; decrease blood flow; decrease endurance; decrease engagement; decrease sense of attractiveness; decrease satisfaction; increase sensitivity to touch. Compensation is adapting to the situation. It might take more time. Sex toys may help. Enhance communication. People who have wonderful sex have wonderful communications. Mental changes. How is that going to effect sexuality? next week will continue ………… Have a wonderful weekend.

More fraud?????????? Of course I am cool. I was cool before it was invented. However scammers are not.

Hello! Subscribed for you on Facebook, you are cool! Let's get acquainted, I expect you on the website provided below. Please, do not speak to anybody about this letter, I hesitate. →Click to go!← ↑ Obviously I did not click on this and don't you if you receive something like this. Facebook? Maybe and maybe not. Tiresome. Have a good weekend and definitely will post about the conference regarding sex and aging findings from research conducted.

Word on the Street

Sunday was interesting and it was my lowest amount of sales at an event ever. There was a lot of re-organizing at the event and I found myself in what used to be the kiddie corner. Needless to say I had a lot of kiddies who were very interested in my books especially Hey Guy Buy Me. I would ask them their age and let them know that they were more than welcome to read my books when they were older (much older). One boy asked me if I would be at the same location next year (I hope not). I was impressed at how many children were interested in looking at the books and wanting to open them up. The cartoons in Hey Guy Buy Me is not appropriate for children so I stopped the little ones. However, I enjoyed talking to them. It gives me pleasure to see a genuine interest for children wanting to read. Should I write something for them? I would definitely get a fan base. How hard is it to write a book for a child? I have no clue. There is definitely a demographic there. Nancy Drew Mysteries is coming to TV and I remember reading the series as a young person. I sold a book to my official number one fan as per my signature. However, the event was not a total disaster, at least I didn't travel all the way from the United States to get disappointed as one of my tent sharing did. Will she return? No way. She was telling me how her friend was texting from the U.S.A and doing extremely well. She suggested I go to the States to sell my books. There is no secret that I like Americans but how does it work bringing books over? Good question for the border people. Let me write that down. I'm back. The day reminded me that I do not focus enough on my books and that needs to change. I am always in awe of writers who I observe are so motivated to learn to prosper. Being an independant writer nowadays is not easy. There were apparently two hundred local writers this year. I was cramped this year in my tent which never happened before. Is this still non profit? I understand that it is. I did voice my concerns which I will not share because I believe in giving everyone a break. The most I learned about this day is that I need to place more attention on my book writing. Now that my number One fan has read all my books, I am due to supply another. I have focused so much on my private practice that I have almost entirely neglected my love of writing stories. My mother is no longer there to encourage me and neither is my mentor so I need to do all that by myself. Virginia Wolf said that to write to you need to have a room of your own. I remember how that had struck a cord. I certainly do have all that which she too had. Writing is something I have loved doing since I was a little girl. It has stayed with me. There are authors I interact with each year, yet, after the event, I go back to my practice which does involve a lot of consistent professional development. I am forever researching and reading everything I can regarding anything that I am focused on in my work. Now it is time to take the initiative, take a step back and give more attention to books. I belong to the sisters in crime association, yet I have not been attending events and so that is going to change. By taking November off from seeing clients, I will be able to refocus and to determine which clubs I want to belong to, which associations I should belong to and to learn how to market more effectively etc..... I have just realized that my time is up and I have to actually work and so I do not have time to proof read and must publish now. I will give my other business more attention, but not at this moment. What do you think?

VACATION

I will be taking my vacation for the entire month of November 2019. I shall still be posting on this site weekly. I shall also be attending several conferences etc....and will be ready for book signing/selling. However, I will not be seeing clients November 2019. I will be available to book appointments for this December 2019. I am planning to take vacation next year for the entire December 2020 and working November.

Fraud alert - interesting when fraudsters caution you to be careful of fraudsters

Hello (email) It is good to be in contact with you even though this medium of communication has been grossly abused by impostors and criminal minded people thereby making it difficult for people with genuine struggle to correspond and exchange views without skepticism. The United Kingdom's Treasury Department receives over £10bn every year from unclaimed estates; forgotten funds; abandoned shares and dormant accounts because beneficiaries of deceased families are not being located to lay claim to funds left in the bank. This letter is a final warning notice regarding the death of my Late client Edward,wife and only daughter while on holiday at Louisiana USA in the August 2005 Atlantic hurricane Katrina disaster. According to the laws of England and Wales, section 46 of the Administration of Estates Act of 1925 (with subsequent amendments). My late client's bank has issued me a Final written notice to provide his next-of-kin within 7 days or have his funds declared UNCLAIMED and sent into government treasury. I have been in charge of managing his properties here in London for a long time. There were some of his properties put out for sale before his death,for which payment has since been made. The proceeds of the sale is deposited into his local account here. I found your name in some of his documents and that is why I traced your email through an advanced search. I am contacting you because you bear the same last-name with my late client.I want to know if you are in anyway related to my late client. I await your prompt response, Regards, Bar.Mark Smith Principal Partner