TIPS
[Tip #1]
Try self-hypnosis and guided meditations. I have one on the homepage for you to listen to. It’s a qucik, 10-minute relaxer that refreshed body, mind and soul.
Advice Alert: Hypnosis & meditation are not for everybody. If you try it and don’t like it, then try something else. I suggest it because once I started doing it, I felt tranformed – I’m more calm in the face of stress, and my reactions to conflict are much-less ballistic. I also feel more energized. I suggest it not as a magic bullet, but as something to add to your gaggle of “coping skills.”
TRIPS
[Trip #1]
Avoid letting your doctor give you medication to combat burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms.
Advice alert: Of course, I’m not saying that if you need medication you shouldn’t take it. But after months of me complaining about anxiety, chest pain, and dizziness, my doctor put me on Ativan (sim. to Valium) after all my medical tests came back negative. I knew it was burnout-related, so I was happy to get something to calm me. But it just made me feel worse. Doped up, numb, and drowsy is no way to work, especially if you’re a counselor…or a truck driver.
