A FREE seminar for frontline emergency services and people working in caring professions is being held in Glasgow on Thursday.
Designed to support people at risk from extreme stress through their jobs, the Dealing with Burnout and Compassion Fatigue conference will be led by a world-renowned clinical psychologist from the United States, Dr Don Lichi.
Dr Lichi, an expert in secondary post-traumatic stress disorder, said he aims to offer practical support.
He said: “There’s an increasing focus on mental health issues, which is both welcome and needed, especially in the area of the professional and caring services where pressures are reaching intolerable levels for many involved.
“This seminar is designed to offer practical advice and support to those in roles that can induce burnout, a syndrome linked to work-related stress.
“In frontline and caring services, compassion fatigue can also have consequences for those who use the services.”
As well as police, paramedics and firefighters, the interactive session will offer advice to social workers, teachers, charity and community workers.
Dr Lichi has worked in mental health for more than 35 years.
Throughout this time he has collected a range of skills that he believes will help alleviate a range of mental health issues triggered by working with vulnerable people who themselves can have a host of unseen conditions.
At his mental health care centre in Ohio, Dr Lichi works with members of the armed forces, people who have been trafficked, and drug and alcohol
addicts.
As a military veteran who has seen the effects of PTSD both in and out of the field, he said he is determined to help others who are experiencing it, as well as those who work with people who have PTSD. Dr Lichi works to help people find solutions.
He said: “When working with people on the frontline our energy can get depleted and people then can go into burnout, or what is known as secondary PTSD.”
This vicarious trauma can bleed into the lives of workers who are faced with people suffering every day.
Dr Lichi said: “When you work with people that so much is required of, people that really put their lives on the line, they often don’t know what’s going to happen in any given day.
“That has its toll over time.
“What I do in my professional work is say, ‘ok, what do we need to do?’
“Not just recognising the symptoms and the sources, but also what are some of the solutions?”
Despite never seeing a slowing down of people needing his help, Dr Lichi isn’t convinced that mental health issues are getting worse.
Instead, he thinks there is more recognition of the issues and more awareness in general.
He said: “I think for many people, the fact that there is help available, and the sources of help are becoming a little bit more available, and maybe people are finding that with the accessibility, it’s okay to get help and not have to hide it.”
He has certainly witnessed the breaking down of stigma over his lengthy career.
He said: “That is probably one of the best things that has happened – people can say, I don’t have to hold this and I don’t have to run and hide.
“And certainly I don’t have to face these issues alone.
“There are people who do care for me.”
But the caregivers have to take care too, and that’s where the strategies Dr Lichi will be sharing come in.
He said: “We’re going to try and help you before you need it.
“Let’s build some fences at the top of the hill and not just call for the ambulance at the bottom.”
The event will take place at the conference centre at C7 church, 100 High Craighall Road, Glasgow G4 9UD on Thursday, 24 October between 10 am-noon. The seminar is open to all. Registration is online at https://events.eventzilla.net/e/burnout-and-compassion-fatigue-seminar-with-dr-don-lichi-2138762991
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here