Did you know that those who work with shelter and sanctuary animals are highly vulnerable to compassion fatigue?
Not surprisingly, helping (and opening your heart to) abused, unloved and neglected animals on a regular basis is extremely stressful and traumatic. Those involved in euthanasia of such animals also experience grief. Compassion fatigue, therefore, is unfortunately an occupational hazard for those working with traumatized animals.
According to the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project (CFAP) and the American Institute of Stress, the symptoms of compassion fatigue vary but can include any of the following:
Excessive sadness or bottling up of emotions
Isolating oneself
Losing your sense of humor
Neglecting your appearance
Abusing substances to cope
Feeling mentally and physically tired
Having difficulty concentrating
Reduced sense of meaning or purpose in one’s work
If you think you may be suffering from compassion fatigue (but aren’t sure), you can start by taking this self-test.
Healing from compassion fatigue doesn’t happen overnight, but there are pro-active steps you can take.
CFAP stresses the importance of Self Care during this difficult time and offers the following tips: being kind to yourself, clarifying your personal boundaries, vocalizing your needs and more. The entire list can be found here.
Another option is meditation. In my work with animals, I’ve found that meditating and practicing Reiki can help us to stay centered, strong and balanced amidst all the chaos we observe, sense and feel. If you lack the energy to sustain a long, drawn-out meditation, these mini meditations are a good starting point.
Connecting with the following two Reiki precepts in particular is another way to help guide you down the path to wellness:
1. Be grateful.
This precept is really about remembering the positive. Sometimes in difficult situations, we forget that every cloud has a silver lining. Figure out what your silver linings are for the animals that you work with. Perhaps a fearful animal you have worked with is showing progress. Maybe an animal who was abandoned finally found a forever family. Even in the case of an animal who died: Were they given kindness in the last moments of their life? Or perhaps their life has illuminated cruelty in a way that will teach and inspire people to help? If we take some time and look deeper into situations, we can always find things to be grateful for. In fact, some of life’s most difficult teachers are also the most profound.
2. Be honest.
Reach out to fellow rescuers who know what you are going through or to your Reiki friends who share an empathic view of the world. My nonprofit, the Shelter Animal Reiki Association, is a group of more than 400 people around the world who spend time with rescued animals and use the practices of Reiki for support. If you can find people who not only understand, but also offer you a positive and encouraging word, all the better!
The Reiki precept “be honest” also means understanding your boundaries. What part of your rescue work is the most gratifying? Which parts are the most overwhelming? Spending time becoming more aware of how your time with rescued animals affects your inner state will help you to move toward balance.
CFAP offers a host of resources to help animal caregivers suffering from compassion fatigue. The Wrong Side of the Rainbow also offers information on Self Care as well as links to pet loss forums and a counseling service in Canada. Talking to a therapist can help, too; a simple Google search will lead you to a variety of animal care compassion fatigue specialists, such as Anne Lindsay of TACTdogs.com.
Remember, there is always hope. You are not alone. You are as strong as the earth and as expansive as the sky. All will be well. Take some time to meditate and practice Reiki, and watch both you and the animals you care for shift back into wellness.
Have you or someone you love experienced compassion fatigue? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this important issue.
3. Learn the Let Animals Lead® Method of Animal Reiki
One of the best ways to AVOID compassion fatigue and continue to help animals in shelters and sanctuaries is to learn our method of animal energy connection. It's a form of Animal Reiki called the Let Animals Lead® Method and we teach you how to use tools and techniques to help you move through all of the emotions that can overwhelm us when working with rescue animals. Our techniques are easy to learn, highly effective in keeping our hearts and minds in balance, and—most importantly—they have a beautiful side effect of calming shelter animals and rescues, even in high anxiety situations.
Check out this video by Kathleen Prasad, one of the first pioneers of Animal Reiki who has spent thousands of hours working in rescue, particularly with shelter animals.
If you're interested in learning how to combat compassion fatigue and keep helping the animals you've dedicated your life to, try our 3-Day Animal Reiki challenge! It's three, one-hour videos that will give you a few of our tools for avoiding compassion fatigue and learning a mindful way to connect with animals!
We also have an entire online community made up of shelter and sanctuary volunteers and workers that are accessible once you take Level of our LAL® Animal Reiki Training!