Compassion Fatigue
As part of Maternal Mental Health Week, I contributed to this blog post over at Laura Greenwood therapy about compassion fatigue.
“I’ve always viewed myself as resilient, strong, and capable of navigating some pretty tough experiences. And then the pandemic happened.
I was working part-time in the NHS as a Senior CBT Therapist and part-time at Goldsmiths College, University of London as a Lecturer and Clinical Supervisor; AND I was mum to two children under the age of 5.
Like a tsunami wave we could see but we could not outrun, the panic was palpable everywhere I turned and was ever present in every conversation I had.
As a senior therapist managing other therapists, it was tough. As a lecturer training CBT therapists through a pandemic, it was tough. As a psychotherapist working with clients whose difficulties were exacerbated by the global anxiety, it was tough. As a mum who didn’t learn to read or write phonetically, it was tough.
The crushing weight of (metaphorically) holding everyone’s anxiety broke me. I felt helpless against the current of uncertainty. But here’s what helped me – I noticed how I was feeling, and each day I made the tiniest move towards doing what was best for me and did it.
I stopped watching the nightly reports, I rested when I needed to, I made space to cry when I needed to, I remembered to breathe, and I practiced self-care. Most importantly, I let go of expectations (all the shoulds that my mind sometimes tells me) and focused on what mattered most in that moment.
I extended the same compassion to myself then, and it’s something I still prioritise each day.”
