Self-Care and Grief
for Professionals
As Medical Interpreters you are:
• Expected to blend in and be only a voice
• Expected to interpret, but not feel emotions as you
witness the most challenging times in families lives
• Expected to walk out of heartbreaking
interventions, and walk into the next room and
carry on
THESE ARE UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS!
Today we will talk about grief and self-care…
Because you need to feel your emotions in order to continue to
do your jobs well!
You can operate within your code of ethics and still process your
experiences.
“Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves."
- Pema Chodron
You’re jobs are hard…
• What are some of your most challenging moments?
• How are you encouraged to handle your stress at work?
• How are you encouraged to bury your stress at work?
Coping:
According to Wikipedia…
coping is expending conscious effort to solve personal and
interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize or
tolerate stress or conflict.
What are the day to day issues?
What do you do when you need to step out of your role?
Patient safety issues
Language/comprehension issues
Cultural issues
Advocacy
Shared life experiences
What do you do when you feel “too much” for a family?
How do you turn off/manage your feelings?
What are the day to day issues?
What do you do with the physically ugly side of things? You
have no training or preparation for this like other staff
do…How is that!?
Funerals: You guys don’t go…right? How do you get closure?
The long hours…what do you do after a long period of time
with one family?
What do you do for families you have worked with for
months and years?
Is there room in your career for being and feeling and
staying within your boundaries?
Six possible ways the loss of a patient
could affect you as professionals
• Loss of relationship with the patient/client
• Loss related to identification with pain experienced by
the families
• Loss of assumptions about one's worldview
• Unresolved previous personal losses
• Loss related to facing personal mortality
• Loss related to professional expectations
D Papadatou, Omega 41, 2000
So…How can I teach you all to cope in two
hours?
Do it yourself tips:
Deep breathing
Guided imagery
Distraction
Exercising
Laughing
Talking
Create a ritual: light a candle, say a prayer, sit for a few
moments and process
So…How can I teach you to cope in two
hours?
Employee Assistance Programs…They ROCK!
Vacation
Friends…you can vent and be HIPPAA compliant
Write, journal, make something…do something with your
grief!
What do you do?
Grief Responses in Professionals:
“Professional grief usually takes the form of hidden grief —
grief that is internalized and not openly expressed. There is
no natural outlet for it, and the demands of work
overshadow it. This lack of expression may result in
cumulative grief, or what sometimes is referred to as
bereavement overload. This can further lead to a legacy of
vulnerability, burnout, or post-traumatic stress reaction.”
Understanding Professional Grief
By Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
Grief Responses in Professionals:
Professional Grievers:
• Are distant mourners
• Have hidden symptoms
• Transform their grief into other emotions such as anger,
sadness, anxiety, blame, helplessness, guilt
• Can develop chronic grief…a grief that never comes to a
satisfactory conclusion
Understanding Professional Grief
By Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
Grief Responses in Professionals:
As C. Murray Parkes, one of the foremost experts in
bereavement has noted:
“With proper training and support, we shall find that
repeated grief, far from
undermining our humanity and care, enable us to cope
more confidently and
more sensitively with each succeeding loss.”
Programs at Children’s for Families:
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Film Group for siblings
Grief Support Groups for parents and siblings
Fall Forum
In the Presence of the Light
Sibling Day Camp
Scrapbooking
Precious Prints
Grief Packets
Annual Memorial Service
Programs at Children’s for Staff:
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Bereavement Council
Invites to the annual memorial
Good Grief @ Noon
In the future…We hope to offer financial and emotional
support for grief support on each unit
References
Parkes, CM. “Orienteering the caregiver’s grief.” Journal of
Palliative Care, 1986; 1:5-7
Understanding Professional Grief
By Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH
www.helpstartshere.org
Now let’s actively do something with our
grief!
Grief Flags…