Please answer the following questions when creating your journal entry.  Feel free to use references, share links, media, pics, and other items that you feel would help your teammates.

• Am I exhibiting any symptoms of compassion fatigue?
• What is my “baseline” for handling stress?  When do I know that I am over my stress limit?
• What are some steps I can take to regulate my emotions and/or self-soothe?
• Are you experiencing a difficult time in leaving “work” at “work”?  Do you tend to bring home client concerns with you and think about them during your “downtime”?
• Who holds you accountable for your self-care? Checks in on you?
• Share some links, websites, podcasts, etc. on self-care that would your teammates can use.

Name: Elizabeth Prophete

Agency: Orlando Health, REACH

• No. I was in the middle of the semester. But now that all of the major assignments are done, I’m relieved.
• When it comes to getting over my limit, I get agitated easily and I don’t get any sleep. I also start to eat differently and move slowly with my work (school and job). When it comes to handling stress, I take time off, read, catch up on sleep and go out either in my own or with friends.
• When it comes to regulating my emotions I think twice before I react and try to process everything. And for self soothing, I go inside my solo date jar and pick something out to do. Or I eat, catch up on sleep and go out with friends.
• At this time, I find myself NOT bringing work with me home or thinking about work during my downtime. It took some years to get to that but, I am happy that I am in the place I am right now where I am able to leave work at work and enjoy being off.
• The ones who holds me accountable are my friends like Alicia Henry (haha) and my friends from work, my boss from work, my family and myself. I also have my therapist who is constantly encouraging me to practice self care

As you guys know. I am all about solo dates and treating yourself. Here is a list you all can try.

Dating Yourself: 100 Fun Solo Date Ideas To Boost Your Self-Love

Elizabeth-Yes, I will always be that friend that holds you accountable for your selfcare. I may have to remind myself but will always make sure others are doing so.

Thanks for sharing the 100 Solo Dates, even though I am married it is still important to take time just for me and my self-love. I am going to commit to trying one thing from the list each month. – Alicia

Elizabeth- Ever since you brought in the bouquet of flowers the other week, I have been thinking about it! I love that you buy yourself flowers. My mom does the same thing- she treats herself to fresh flowers often and it makes such a difference in bringing joy to the space. In these professions where we give so much to others, it’s important that we give love and kindness to ourselves too! I’m going to take a look at the article you shared, and hopefully do some of these ideas! Thanks for always motivating me to be a better person! -Polly

Name: Alicia Henry

Agency: Orlando Health, Health Central

•  I was experiencing compassion fatigue at the start of the semester. I was promoted to a new job at work as the Program Administrator while also beginning an internship and a new semester. It was challenging to learn my new job obligations at work and at my internship. Because I am an overachiever, juggling all of these huge changes at once added to my stress.
• My starting point for dealing with stress was learning that I am only accountable for what I can manage and that I am not responsible for solving everyone else’s problems. I was the one who took on other people’s problems and turned them into mine. I’ve learnt to set boundaries and enforce them firmly. When I reach my stress limit, I examine myself to determine if I am bringing added stress to my life. I now take one day off work every month for myself. I’ve learnt to decompress and unwind by disconnecting fully from everything and everyone.
• When it comes to managing my emotions, I’ve learnt not to react or make decisions when my emotions are high. I no longer let myself down by expecting people to do what I would do for them. I soothe myself by having a selfish, all-about-me day without feeling guilty.
• I’m glad to report that I can now fully unplug from work without feeling bad about it. I would bring work home because of my work ethics and my concern and empathy for others. Because of my dedication to my work and clientele, I would only take a day or two off rather than long vacations. Years of doing this eventually led to my burnout. am now at a point in my life where I have realized that taking care of myself first is not selfish. Self-care is not selfish; it is essential. I now take three weeks off each year, plus one day off each month.
•   My husband is the one who holds me accountable for my own self-care. He has taught me the value of taking breaks, that not everything has to be completed on the same day, and, most importantly, to listen to my body. If he notices that I am overwhelmed or doing tasks that do not have to be done at that time, he will tell me that it is okay to take a step back, or he will complete that task for me.  I have also prioritized my own selfcare.

This video below discusses some simple self-care practices. We’ve been told that self-care must entail things like a spa day or a day of pampering, when it may be as simple as going for a walk.

Alicia- That’s a great idea to take one day off work each month for yourself, and to take more vacation time. You deserve it!! My new supervisor has worked in social work for a couple decades and he said that he has to take one vacation every three months to avoid burnout. In the time that he’s been with our company I can see that he works really hard when he’s at work, but that he has good work-life balance and prioritizes family time. I think what I can take from you and from him is to schedule regular breaks and have it be part of my routine,  rather than taking time off intermittently like I do. Also I’m so proud of you for taking on your new role while also adjusting to graduate school! That’s a lot of new things but you handle it well. -Polly

Polly and Alicia, I am extremely happy to have met you both and see how far we are coming along. I’m happy that we are able to adjust and are in a place where we can balance work, our internship, school and our personal lives. Alicia, taking one vacation here in there is something I’m definitely incorporating into my self care. Polly, cleaning is ALWAYS a form of self care for me. When your home is clean, your mind is clean. So I’m 100% with you on that one. And after I do a deep deep clean, I too enjoy bubble baths.

As you are aware, Polly, I suffer from severe OCD, so I used cleaning and making sure everything was spotless as a form of self-soothing. The contrary lesson I had to learn today was that it’s okay if things don’t get done all in one day. Even if I was tired, I would keep going to make sure everything was flawless. I now understand that this behavior was the exact opposite of taking care of oneself. Even though I am conscious of this, I still occasionally struggle with self-care and deliberately try to put myself first rather than last. (Alicia)