Compassion Fatigue: The Many Faces of Mindfulness

This is part four of a multiple part series on compassion fatigue in the veterinary field. 

The last article introduced Elan,* who was struggling to balance both his work responsibilities and a new medical diagnosis. He was ultimately able to make some changes to his way of thinking about work, and he learned how to ask for the help he needed. A key ingredient to Elan’s success in overcoming his symptoms of compassion fatigue and improving his life satisfaction lies in his ability to remain mindful of how his body is feeling. This awareness of self in the present moment allows him to understand his own needs and enact beneficial life changes. In doing so, Elan has improved his resilience, or the ability to “bounce back” from difficulties.

The Link Between Mindfulness, Resilience, and Compassion Fatigue

Though there is a lack of data focusing specifically on veterinary professionals, a substantial body of research shows that mindfulness improves resilience and protects against the development of compassion fatigue in healthcare workers. A variety of mindfulness practices have been found to be useful interventions for compassion fatigue. Meditation, yoga, and journaling are some of the more commonly prescribed mindfulness practices. While a full review of the literature supporting the link between mindfulness, resilience, and decreased compassion fatigue is not within the scope of this article, let’s briefly review some of the key evidence:

• Mindfulness predicts wellbeing in healthcare providers and protects against compassion fatigue.¹

• Mindfulness and self-compassion increase resilience and protect against burnout in medical residents.²

• Mindfulness results in less emotional exhaustion in ICU nurses.³

• Mindfulness improves empathy and work engagement while decreasing burnout, compassion fatigue, and emotional exhaustion in genetic counselors.⁴

• Mindfulness interventions including various styles of meditation and reflective writing decrease compassion fatigue, burnout, and stress in oncology nurses.⁵ These mindfulness practices also increase life satisfaction and self-compassion.⁵

• Mindfulness improves compassion satisfaction and decreases compassion fatigue in traumatic bereavement workers.⁶

• Participation in a yoga and mindfulness program prevents the decreases in compassion satisfaction that are associated with compassion fatigue in social workers.⁷ This intervention also improves practitioner perception of difficult clients.⁷

• Mindfulness interventions, especially those which include a loving-kindness component, increase self-compassion in healthcare workers.8 These interventions also reduce perceived stress and increase the effectiveness of clinical care.⁸

Mindfulness Practices: Beyond Yoga and Meditation

It’s clear that there is a consistent link between mindfulness practices and improved practitioner wellbeing in the research. However, traditional mindfulness practices aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. The idea of taking a yoga class may be intimidating. Meditation may be difficult for people with a trauma history, PTSD, ADHD, or anxiety. Additionally, meditation practices can sometimes result in negative outcomes.⁹

For those who don’t enjoy meditation or yoga, never fear! Many alternatives to these traditional mindfulness practices have been investigated:

• Social action art therapy, in which practitioners create artwork to promote a charitable cause, reduces caregiver stress in social workers.¹⁰

• Task-Oriented Self-Care (TOSC), which focuses on the sensory experiences of the Holland Inventory’s Realistic Tasks list, improves wellness in therapists.¹¹

• Horticultural therapy, which includes garden cultivation or management, improves self-care and awareness of emotion in grief counselors.¹²

• Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), in which an audiovisual stimulus is used to trigger tingling sensations and a calm state, improves mindfulness in the individuals who experience this phenomenon.¹³

• Coloring complex geometric patterns such as mandalas creates a meditative state and decreases anxiety in study participants.¹⁴

• Loving-kindness coloring exercises increase mindfulness and self-compassion while decreasing anxiety as effectively as loving-kindness meditation ¹⁵

• Mindful walking reduces psychological stress and improves quality of life.¹⁶

Adding Mindfulness to Your Self-Care Plan

Regardless of the mindfulness practices you choose, finding ways to consistently incorporate them into your routine is essential. Your personalized self-care plan will ideally include multiple methods for maintaining and improving your own quality of life. The next part of this series will focus on the use of brainstorming techniques to identify the best self-care strategies for you.

About the Author

Dr. Grider is passionate about promoting mental health in the veterinary field. She is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and is currently completing a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Dr. Grider is the co-host of IntroVETS, a veterinary podcast by introverts with high-functioning anxiety. Following graduation from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 2008, she practiced as an Associate Veterinarian for eleven years before starting her own veterinary relief business.

References

1. Brown, J. L. C., Ong, J., Mathers, J. M., & Decker, J. T. (2017). Compassion fatigue and mindfulness: Comparing mental health professionals and MSW student interns. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 14(3), 119-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761407.2017.1302859
2. Olson, K., Kemper, K. J., & Mahan, J. D. (2015). What factors promote resilience and protect against burnout in first-year pediatric and medicine-pediatric residents? Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 20(3), 192-198. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156587214568894
3. Gracia-Gracia, P. & Oliván-Blázquez, B. (2017). Burnout and mindfulness self-compassion in nurses of intensive care units. Holistic Nursing Practice, 31(4), 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1097/HNP.0000000000000215
4. Silver, J., Caleshu, C., Casson-Parkin, S, & Ormond, K. (2018). Mindfulness among genetic counselors is associated with increased empathy and work engagement and decreased burnout and compassion fatigue. Journal of Genetic Counseling, 27(5), 1175-1186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10897-018-0236-6
5. Duarte, J. & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2016). Effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention on oncology nurses’ burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms: A non-randomized study. International journal of nursing studies, 64, 98-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2016.10.002
6. Thieleman, K. & Cacciatore, J. (2014). Witness to suffering: Mindfulness and compassion fatigue among traumatic bereavement volunteers and professionals. Social work, 59(1), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swt044
7. Gregory, A. (2015). Yoga and mindfulness program: The effects on compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction in social workers. Journal of religion & spirituality in social work: Social thought, 34(4), 372-393. https://doi.org/10.1080/15426432.2015.1080604
8. Raab, K. (2014). Mindfulness, self-compassion, and empathy among health care professionals: A review of literature. Journal of health care chaplaincy, 20(3), 95-108. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2014.913876
9. Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K. C., & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: A systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 142(5), 374-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225
10. Ifrach, E. R. & Miller, A. (2016). Social action art therapy as an intervention for compassion fatigue. The arts in psychotherapy, 50, 34-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2016.05.009
11. Plath, A. M. & Fickling, M. J. (2020). Task-oriented self-care: An innovative approach to wellness for counselors. Journal of creativity in mental health, DOI:10.1080/15401383.2020.1842274
12. Lin, Y., Lin, C. Y. & Li, Y. (2014). Planting hope in loss and grief: Self-care applications of horticultural therapy for grief caregivers in Taiwan. Death studies, 38, 603-611. DOI: 10.1080/07481187.2013.820231
13. Fredborg, B. K., Clark, J. M. & Smith, S. D. (2018). Mindfulness and autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR). PeerJ. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5414
14. Curry, N. A. & Kasser, T. (2011). Can coloring mandalas reduce anxiety? Journal of the american art therapy association, 22(2), 81-85. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2005.10129441
15. Mantzios, M., Tariq, A., Altaf, M. & Giannou, K. (2021). Loving-kindness colouring and loving-kindness meditation: Exploring the effectiveness of non-meditative and meditative practices on state mindfulness and anxiety. Journal of creativity in mental health. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2021.1884159
16. Teut, M., Roesner, E. J., Oritz, M., Reese, F., Binting, S., Roll, S., Fischer, H. F., Michalsen, A., Willich, S. N., & Brinkhaus, B. (2013). Mindful walking in psychologically distressed individuals: A randomized controlled trial. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013(1), article ID 489856. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/489856

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