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Help for the Helper: The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma

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About the Course:

Good therapy cannot occur without empathy. Empathy, however, can jeopardize a therapist’s well-being and eventually compromise the therapeutic process itself. Here Babette Rothschild draws on the powerful mind-body perspective put forward in her highly successful The Body Remembers in order to help therapists help themselves through an understanding of the role the body plays in mental health and overall well-being.

Therapist burnout is a pressing issue. Self-care and risk-avoidance are possible only when therapists actively help themselves.
Self-care, however, needs to be grounded in neurophysiological theory and must be practiced correctly and consistently in one’s mental health work. The difference in the new awareness that Rothschild recommends will be felt not just in the life and well-being of the therapist, but also in the therapy hour as this attentiveness has its affect on the exchange between therapist and client. Help for the Helper offers readers a comprehensive approach to somatic empathy and therapist self-care.
Based on the scientific foundation of the phenomenon of somatic empathy, Rothschild offers clinicians practical skill-building advice to manage burnout and stress inside and outside the consulting room.

This course is based on the book, Help for the Helper: The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma created by Rothschild, Babette, MSW, LCSW and Rand, Marjorie (contributor)

Journal/Publisher:

W.W. Norton

Publication Date:

March 2006

Course Material Authors

Course Material Authors authored the material only, and were not involved in creating this CE course. They are identified here for your own evaluation of the relevancy of the material this course is based on.

Rothschild, Babette, MSW, LCSW
Babette Rothschild, MSW, LCSW, has been practicing psychotherapy since 1976 and is a member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the National Association of Social Workers, and the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. She is also the author of _The Body Remembers_ and _The Body Remembers Casebook_. After living and working for nine years in Denmark, she returned to her native Los Angeles, where she maintains a private practice while offering professional training, consultation, and supervision throughout the world.
Rand, Marjorie (contributor)

Course Creator

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially psychologists, counselors, social workers and nurses who seek knowledge about self-care and its critical importance regarding burnout prevention and working effectively as a mental health practitioner. It is appropriate for all levels of participants' knowledge.

Course Objectives:

After taking this course, you should be able to:

  1. Explain what the author means when she refers to the use of common sense.
  2. Identify assets and deficits therapists possess that will likely influence how they respond to the risks of being a helping professional.
  3. Describe the theory behind the neurophysiology of empathy and apply it to self-protection skill building practices.
  4. Illustrate ways therapists can be more aware of negative forms of arousal and build skills of arousal awareness.
  5. Recognize how "clear thinking" is affected by neurophysiological factors.
  6. Critically analyze information presented and choose to apply relevant techniques for strengthening your ability to avoid vicarious trauma.

Disclosures

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

CE Learning Systems, LLC is an independent provider of continuing medical education. CE Learning Systems, LLC has no proprietary or financial interest in medical or healthcare products over which the FDA (USA) or EMA (EU) has regulatory authority.

In accordance with our disclosure policies, CE Learning Systems, LLC is committed to ensuring balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor for all accredited continuing education. These policies include assigning relevance to, and mitigating, all perceived or real conflicts of interest between any individual with control over the content and any ineligible company (commercial interest).

Any individual with control over accredited content, including planner, faculty, and reviewer, is required to globally disclose:

  1. Individual relationship(s) or lack thereof, and its nature, with any/all ineligible company, and
  2. any investigational, off-label, or non-FDA approved content or discussion

CE Learning Systems, LLC has reviewed these disclosures, assigned relevance based on the relationship and scope of content, and identified those with the potential to compromise the goals and educational integrity of the education. Relevant relationships, or lack thereof, are shared with the learner.

Education has been independently peer-reviewed to validate content, mitigate identified conflicts of interest, and ensure:

  1. All recommendations involving clinical medicine is based on evidence that is accepted within the medical profession as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients.
  2. All scientific research referred to, reported, or used in accredited continuing education in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
  3. Content is appropriate, fair and balanced, unbiased, referenced, and non-promotional.
Planners

The planners have reported the following: There are no relevant disclosures.

Course Material Authors

The authors have disclosed any disclosures within the material.

Course Creator: Keith Gibson, Ph.D.
There are no relevant disclosures.
Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

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Course Retired
Course Number 101232
8 CE credit hours
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