Dealing with an illness or health crisis – or facing death – can understandably be confusing, upsetting, and full of uncertainty. Those of us who work as supports in health settings (particularly in end of life care), need to know ways of being and skills that help soothe distress.
When we ourselves are distressed, we cannot help to calm or comfort other distressed people. Therefore, the first and most important step to improve our ability to help others is to learn how to work through our own physical or emotional distress, and how to calm our own nervous system.
In this webinar we:
• learn and practice tools for decreasing tension in our bodies and minds so we can meet our clients from a place of authenticity, comfort and care
• learn about the difference between sympathy, and empathy or compassion
• review roadblocks to skillful, compassionate care
• reflect on different states of distress, and what people might need in each state
• learn skills for being with distressed people in each state in a skillful and compassionate way
The best part is, the skills that we learn to help ourselves will help others, and learning to truly care for others increases our own resilience and satisfaction with our work!
Here are a few related links you may enjoy looking at before you watch the recording:
• The Victoria Hospice relaxation tools brochure provides a selection of easy to use techniques for soothing nervous systems; useful for clients, families and care staff for in-the-moment relief
• This short funny video demonstrates some of what we’ll learn about in the webinar:
Slides:
