Coping with working with animals in shelters & rescue

Dr Tania Signal Associate Professor, Psychology CQUniversity [email protected]

Shelter/rescue work

• Every Saturday morning, out the door at 8:30 to drive 45 minutes to our nearest animal shelter. Around the time my pals are rubbing their bleary eyes and pulling the covers back up for another hour in bed, I'm finishing the cat cages and moving on to paper the dog runs … … I'm so happy. I love helping out. They need it and

it really does make me feel good. Plus, cute kitties! What more is there to say?...

(extract from http://www.experienceproject.com)

Shelter/rescue work

• “The puppy was marked for euthanasia. I held him in my arms and took him round the shelter trying to find a way to rescue him. I asked if there was any way to keep him. I understand the financial burden that less-than-perfect beings incur on society, but death seemed too high a price for an under bite … … I was a mess” (Tallberg, Jordan & Boyle, 2014)

•

Shelter/rescue work

Animal shelter/rescue work is “.. physically and emotionally demanding, requiring an ability to move seamlessly from cleaning cages to interacting with the public to nursing the wounds of abused animals.” Allan (2007) • • • • • Often this work is made harder by the reactions of the public, including those turned down for adoptions whose animals are seized due to abuse or neglect surrendering animals wanting guarantees they’ll be placed in the animal welfare movement who “... pile abuse on the heads of shelter workers, implying that they enjoy killing—or are simply too lazy or incompetent to prevent it.” Maloney (2009) •

Where can this lead?

Compassion Fatigue

• “No one ever said the words “compassion fatigue” to me when I took the job at the shelter. I didn’t understand that what I was initially experiencing wasn’t the same as burnout from a tough job with long hours .. I felt like no matter how many hours were in a day, I could never give the dogs at the shelter the level of care that I know they deserved and needed. I worked so hard. But it never felt like enough. No matter how much I did in a day, I rarely felt like I had succeeded. It wore me down.” Dolce (2011)

Compassion Fatigue

• • • Compassion Fatigue defined by Figley (1995) as State of tension and preoccupation with the individual or collective trauma of [clients] as manifested in one or more ways including re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoidance/numbing or reminders of the event and persistent arousal The natural consequence of stress resulting from caring for and helping traumatised or suffering people or animals • • • Can also be called vicarious or secondary traumatisation Differs from burn-out and PTSD but can co-exist Can occur due to exposure on one case or can be due to a “cumulative” level of trauma

Compassion Fatigue – who gets it?

• • • • Those in ‘helping’ professions most likely to develop CF (e.g., Nurses, Doctors, Police Officers, Psychologists, Social Workers) BUT researchers have suggested that

Compassion Fatigue is most prevalent in the animal care field

(Roop, 2009) due to Volume of caring, “the number of lives and suffering that one is exposed to is much higher than in human care fields” (Mehelich, 2011) Occupational variables such as euthanasia Personality variables (particularly empathy)

Animals & Empathy: Animal Protection Community

• Signal & Taylor (2007) • Previously found strong links btw Empathy & AAS • Predicted that this link would be stronger • in the Animal Protection (AP) community • for women* • related to higher pro-animal attitudes • 407 AP (worldwide) vs 612 general community (Australian) • • • Significantly higher AAS in AP (84.7 vs 67.6) Stronger relation btw ‘automatic’ empathy & AAS ♀: higher empathy/AAS overall BUT ♂ AP members scored higher on AAS/empathy than ♀ in general community *Gender based differences in Empathy and Attitude to animals – see Herzog 2007 STUDENTS COMMUNITY

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Compassion Fatigue – who gets it?

• • • • So who has the highest risk for developing CF?

Slightly higher for women No relation to number of years in the field Not related to age of worker Occupational role?

• Going to look now at what CF ‘looks like’, how it progresses, how to spot it, what individuals and their organisations can do to reduce the risk of developing CF and what to do if you are at ‘that’ point now

CF Symptoms: Individuals

• Affects many dimensions of your well-being: •

Nervous system arousal (Sleep disturbance)

• • Emotional intensity increases Cognitive ability decreases • Behaviour and judgment impaired • • Isolation and loss of morale Depression and PTSD • • Loss of self-worth and emotional modulation Identity, worldview, and spirituality impacted • Beliefs and psychological needs-safety, trust, esteem, intimacy, and control • Loss of hope and meaning=existential despair • Anger toward perpetrators or causal events

CF Symptoms: Organisations

• CF can also hit ‘critical mass’ within a organisation, symptoms include: • High absenteeism • • Constant changes in relations between co-workers Inability for teams to work together well • • Desire among staff to break company rules Outbreaks of aggressive behaviours among staff • Inability of staff to complete assignments/tasks or meet deadlines • • Lack of flexibility among staff members Negativism towards management • • Strong reluctance to change Inability of staff to believe improvement is possible www.compasionfatigueawareness

The Path to Compassion Fatigue:

• Common phases of Compassion Fatigue (within human services): • ‘Zealot’ • Irritability/Vulnerability • • ‘Zombie’/Misanthropy Endgame • How do these ‘map’ to animal care work?

‘Zealot’ Phase

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In this phase workers are

• Committed, involved, available (overly so?) • Solving problems/making a difference • Willing to go the extra mile • High enthusiasm • Volunteer for ‘extra’ tasks (often without being asked) “Red hot and raring to go, we are out to change the world. We are high on life. We know we can make a difference, that our efforts on behalf of animals will ease their plight .. we [know the problem] and can fix it if only people would get out of our way.” Fakkema, 2014

Irritability/Vulnerability Phase

• In this phase individuals … • • Begin to cut corners at work and with personal care Begin to avoid ‘others’ • • May begin to denigrate the people/animals they serve Use inappropriate humor • • Make mistakes Distance selves from friends & co-workers “..the bubble bursts and we crash and burn. We see the same people coming into the shelter with yet another litter – they haven’t heard our message..” “we go home from work, lock the doors, turn out the lights … we’re too exhausted to cook so we scarf fast food, pizza, chips or chocolate” Fakkema, 2014

‘Zombie’ and/or Misanthropy Phase

• In this phase … • • Hopelessness turns to rage Begin to hate people…any/all people • • Judge others as incompetent or ignorant May develop a disdain for clients • • Lose patience, sense of humor, time for fun Substance abuse, gambling “depression has turned outward and we’re mad as hell .. it occurs to us: Lets euthanise the owners not the pets, let’s take everyone who abuses an animal or even surrenders [one] and euthanise them instead …” Fakkema, 2014

Endgame: Fatigue or Satisfaction

•

Here individuals …

• Become overwhelmed and consider leaving their profession or volunteer posts • • Experience physical illnesses, symptoms persist 

Compassion Fatigue

• • • •

Or

Hardiness Resiliency Transformation 

Compassion Satisfaction

• Fakkema (2014) refers about ‘big picture’ time

How to manage Compassion Fatigue? Awareness is Key!

Self Test

• Be aware of how you

are feeling AND behaving

• Professional Quality of

Life test

Self Care Maintaining roles and well being Wilkinson ‘Compassion Fatigue: When the helpers get tired of helping’

ProQoL

• Available free of charge from www.proqol.org

• Version 5 (2009) gives a measure of your current level of Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction • CF comprised of ‘Burnout’ + ‘Secondary Trauma’ • Designed for use by ‘human’ care professionals, just replace ‘person’ with ‘animal’ • e.g., “I feel depressed because of the traumatic experiences of the animals I have helped” • High scores on the ‘Burnout’ + ‘Secondary Trauma’ scales do not necessarily mean you have a problem BUT they do suggest that you should examine how you feel about your work and work environment

How to manage Compassion Fatigue? Awareness is Key!

Self Test

Self Care Maintaining roles & well being Individual & Organisational strategies

Adapted from Wilkinson ‘Compassion Fatigue: When the helpers get tired of helping’

Individual Self Care …

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PHYSICAL NEEDS

• Get medical treatment for symptoms that are interfering with your daily functioning • •

Eat healthy meals at a relaxed pace Develop and stick to an exercise plan

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Sleep!

• Don’t self-medicate with alcohol or drugs • Mini-breaks •

Balance

Individual Self Care …

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PSYCHO-SOCIAL NEEDS:

• Assess what’s on your plate. Make a list of your stressors to see what is making your plate too full. •

Learn to say no, ask for what you need

• Reduce or eliminate multi-tasking.

• Develop a supportive network – even one person you can ‘offload’ too will help • Repetitive thoughts •

Balance

Balance…

Adapted from Dr Angie Panos “Preventing Compassion Fatigue” • • • • • • • • Place an aspect of your life in each segment – suggestions are : • Self Care Work Intimate Partner/Family Social Life Health & Wellness Community Spiritual Financial • Rate from 0 [  ] - 5 [  ] • 0 in center • Connect the dots • Is your circle balanced?

Organisational Care (of individuals)

• • • • • Training opportunities • Self care • Compassion Fatigue awareness • Euthanasia procedures Facilitate employee access to counselling* Job rotation Time out Recognition • “employees who perceive that their contributions and wellbeing are valued at work experience health benefits and increased job satisfaction” Baran et al., 2009

Where to from here?

• http://www.compassionfatigue.org

• Talk, raise awareness … research?

“The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering, loss, pain, feelings … daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet” Remen (1996)