Compassion fatigue is often defined as the emotional and physical tiredness and/ or depletion as the result of helping others ease their own pain and suffering. Compassion fatigue is analogous with vicarious trauma, or second-hand trauma, through helping or working with someone who has or is currently going through a trauma. Psychologist Charles Figley, provided a holistic definition of compassion fatigue as “a state of exhaustion and dysfunction, biologically, physiologically and emotionally, as a result of prolonged exposure to compassion stress .” Individuals that most often report symptoms of compassion fatigue including people who work in professions of caregiving or immediate, critical care of others. These include: first responders(dispatchers, fire fighters, police officers, EMS), health care professionals(nurses, doctors, hospital staff), mental health providers(counselors, social workers, psychiatrists), and many more caregiving professions. Compassion fatigue occurs wh...

On the next line, you're going to read something that might be scary... MIDTERMS ARE HERE Let's just take a second to validate any and all feelings that come up when you read that. The midterm scaries are a real thing and can bring about a lot of fear and spooky vibes.  It's a totally normal thing to feel stressed about midterms, but sometimes that stress can be overwhelming and come with a lot of self-doubt, anxiety symptoms, focus and motivation issues, and overall unpleasant feelings.  As we enter into midterm territory, we want to offer some helpful reminders and tools to utilize, so that you don't come out of this as a zombie... First thing to combat the feelings of being overwhelmed or not knowing what to start studying, do a brain dump. Make a list of everything that is swimming around in your mind, especially the things causing you to feel stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. Doing this allows you to check-in with yourself and shed light on the things that impacti...