igue, counselling, workplace, teams, vancouver bc,

Workplace organizations face many challenges and pressures. Teams become stressed and demoralized and work less efficiently. Some of these pressures include; high workloads, long hours, constant change, lack of control and interpersonal conflict.

The Helping Professions are particularly vulnerable to Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

Compassion fatigue is a major negative factor in all professions where competency is linked to helping or changing people. Work environments that make it impossible for individuals to do what they think is necessary to alleviate suffering will be susceptible to compassion fatigue. Some of the signs of compassion fatigue are:

Feelings of being trapped and helpless.
Irritability - loss of control/failure in relationships.
Disillusionment & cynicism - loss of mental & physical energy.
Blaming the victim.

I have been trained by Dr. Patricia Wilensky, who is a leading psychologist working with teams in the helping professions. Within teams where individuals are suffering from compassion fatigue and low moral, teams will feel unsafe and members become isolated. This often leads to a high turnover of staff, and employees taking stress leave and frequent absences. Working with team groups our emphasis is therefore on creating safety and reciprocity within the team. Teams that are working effectively will manage grief and conflict openly and ethically, and learn to embrace socially difficult feelings, beliefs and anxieties that ordinarily will lead to sabotaging and scapegoating.

I belong to Workplace Consulting Group, a group of professionals who specialize in working within the helping professions. If your team is needing facilitation, workshop/presentations, or team building, please contact us by email with any questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Recent Clients

Abbottsford Drug and Alcohol Program.
Urgent Response Team - Vancouver Coastal Health.

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