Managing Compassion Fatigue in Trauma-Informed Care

Based on a popular lecture taught to doctors, nurses, therapists, educators, clinic staff and medical students throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Dr. Lansky presents a video entitled "Managing Compassion Fatigue in Trauma Informed Care” AKA "The Kitty Bunny Talk." Based on experiences working on the frontline as an educator and physician, and incorporating lessons learned from hospital emergency rooms, outdoor classrooms, social protests sites, inpatient psychiatry units, and therapeutic schools for severely emotionally disturbed kids and families, this teaching informs systems thinking with a focus on how healthy environments amplify mental wellness. It will incorporate psychoanalytic concepts that are explained with easily understood natural metaphors, offering useful techniques to aid in "composting" the negative internal feelings that can arise on the frontlines of a variety of crisis situations. On these frontlines--be they health care, mental illness, climate change, education, art, technology, geopolitics, economic disparities, law enforcement, or social movements--the need to approach a crisis from a trauma-informed perspective is critical, but often difficult to maintain in high stakes or disturbing situations. The video and discussion will be accessible to those from multiple educational, professional and cultural backgrounds, with closed captioning available in English. With humor, wisdom and compassion, the video will offer an opportunity to think together creatively and productively with a multidisciplinary perspective. Our multiple global crises insist we "compost" these "dangerous opportunities" into resilient, regenerative solutions and paradigms, and we will aim to do so with bravery, curiosity, and good cheer. The video is adapted from the original slide presentation in collaboration with Georgia Reed.

Credit: Madeleine Lansky