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#SWHPN20 Susan Gerbino teaches us about working through grief. She starts us off with the question we all get in #HAPC — how do you do this work? and reflects on the arc of her career including work in the AIDS epidemic and 9/11.
For Gerbino, the AIDS epidemic shared aspects with #COVID19 in that caregivers identified as #LGBTQ were not allowed to see their loved ones in the hospitals, and in 9/11 there was a collective trauma we all shared.
When identifying symptoms of compassion fatigue, “the high cost of caring”, she identifies physical and emotional exhaustion, somatic symptoms, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and a desire to isolate. #SWHPN20 #Grief #HAPC #Trauma
Gerbino shares a story about how sometimes we as clinicians are uplifted by our patients. Compassion fatigue is normal, and we experience it because we care. #SWHPN20 #HAPC
#VicariousTrauma is different, she shares, though not all of the outcomes are negative. It is cumulative as we bear witness to suffering. It can have PTSD-like symptoms and alterations of beliefs about the world: safety, trust, and control. #SWHPN20 #HAPC #PedPC
She points out that there is a spectrum of responses, which can be neutral and even positive. #SWHPN20
She shares that #burnout is the end of the spectrum and is a permanent condition. There is a diminished sense of personal accomplishment and overwhelming exhaustion. #SWHPN20 #HAPC #grief #PedPC
Gerbino points out that the road to resilience includes things like managing feelings and impulses, problem solving and communication skills, maintaining a realistic optimism, reaching out; strong social supports, & having empathy for others. #SWHPN20 #HAPC #PedPC
Audience asks if others are seeing a “delayed” trauma response of frontline responders working in #COVID19 hot zones, and others respond they are also seeing this. Gerbino advises SWs to normalize this as cumulative traumatic, stress, and grief responses. #SWHPN20 #HAPC
Post Traumatic Growth is different than resilience in that it is permanently transformative. Many in #HAPC field have come into it as a part of this. Gerbino also talks about vicarious resilience where we are affected by our pt’s resilience. This reaffirms our values. #SWHPN20
Gerbino mentions missing her mentor Zelda foster and what she might say today. It makes me think about what I have reflected on often during this pandemic — how would my parents have handled this and what would we have talked about? #grief #hapc #swhpn20 #pedpc
Gerbino reminds us all that, as social workers, the vast numbers of people of color being affected disproportionately by this pandemic is a call to action for all of us. @SWHPN @nasw #SWHPN20 #HAPC
