cchfnews
FALL 2017
encouraging, engaging and equipping Christians to live out the gospel through healthcare among the poor and marginalized
SELF CARE
by Jane Im
“I feel completely burned out. I am at the point where I may need to seek help.” This was the survey response I received from one of our team leaders, Carmen, at a bimonthly group huddle at Los Angeles Christian Health Centers (LACHC). A few months ago Carmen, a high achieving and motivated medical assistant, was promoted to a supervisory position at our clinic. In addition to this new full time position she began nursing school. She was experiencing the effects of working too much, taking on a lot of new responsibilities, and not receiving sufficient sleep and rest, all of which made her acquiesce to the realization that she was quickly burning out.
shifting, a lack of desire to go to work in the mornings, and the feeling that Jesus is nowhere near.
Burnout can be defined as “a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long term involvement in emotionally demanding situations, often accompanied by disillusionment and negative feelings” (2). Furthermore, those whose work requires a high level of empathy can experience compassion fatigue, a type of burnout that can lead to a loss of meaning and hope. In contrast to the desired effects of experiencing and displaying the love of God, compassion fatigue can instead manifest as blame
However the irony of being in the cycle of burnout is that although one desperately wants to break out of it, it feels infinitely difficult to make the necessary changes. For one, those experiencing burn out feel stuck in their situation. Not only do they have very little mental and emotional capacity remaining to create a new trajectory, it can also feel quite frightening to break out of what is known and familiar, even if what is familiar equates to the craziness of burnout.
For Carmen not only was she challenged with her own sizable workload and feeling of burnout, like any good leader, she had the added stress of managing the emotions of others and preventing potential burnout in those she now supervised. Fortunately she had not yet reached the point of compassion fatigue although she was not too far from it. She felt isolated and alone in her circumstances; needless to say she desperately needed a significant shift in her life.
CONTINUED, PAGE 2
Contents
1
Self Care
2
Clinics at a Glance Healing Hands Ministries
3
The Aroma of Christ
4
Letter from our CEO
5
Self Care Continued
6
Financial Report