Surviving or Thriving?Pursuing Wellness In The Workplace!

DR. MONA M. JOHNSON, CDP

Why Did You Choose This Helping Profession?

What Fuels The Passion For The Work You Do?

My Professional PassionIs Fueled By…

My Unique Life Experience…

My Education & Professional Practice

UNIVERSITY of WASHINGTONW

My Most Current Research…

School-Based Trauma Research (Dissertation, 2016):

• Qualitative Interviews w/ 13 Participants

• 3 Accidents, 5 Assaults, and 5 School Shootings

• Observed or experienced traumatic violence, injury, or death in a K-12 educational setting;

• Willing to talk about how they had coped, changed as a result of their experience;

• Willing to talk about supports and advice for others

• First responders on the scene with initial responsibility for taking care of the critical life and death needs of students and faculty.

• Theoretical framework = Post-Traumatic Growth

Workplace Trauma Research (2017) • 256 Participants; Voluntary completion of survey

(15 questions) on workplace trauma

• 65% Educators

• 11% Counselors/Psychotherapists

• 10% Social Workers

• 3% Behavioral Health Professionals

• 11% Other (e.g. Homeless/Foster Care/Bilingual Liaisons, School Nurses, Law Enforcement, After School Programs, etc.)

Research Findings:

• Experiencing school-based traumatic events is as horrific and difficult for K-12 staff and faculty as it is for students.

• The needs of K-12 educators who have experienced school-based trauma, regardless of courage or resilience, are marginalized.

• K-12 educators need and deserve ready-access to short-and long-term coping supports in schools following trauma

Research Findings (continued)

• Educators, in particular school and district leaders, lack capacity to fully understand the impact of trauma on school systems and strategies to integrate trauma-informed practices into their daily workplace interactions.

• Traumatic experiences cause anguish but can also lead to positive growth in the presence of authentic and compassionate systemic supports.

• Recovery from trauma is a long term process requiring active and collective involvement of trauma survivors, family, friends, colleagues, schools and the community.

The Truth About Our Workplaces…

Healthy Work Circumstances

There are many positives that come from working in helping professions.

Challenging Work Circumstances

In our roles as helping professionals we encounter stress & trauma everyday.

Types of TraumaAdapted from: http://www.samhsa.gov/trauma-violence/types

• Natural or manmade disasters

• Historical trauma (e.g. cumulative emotional and psychological wounding as transmitted across generations resulting in unresolved grief)

• School Violence (e.g. assaults, shootings, accidents interpersonal violence among students, suicide)

• Bullying, Harassment and Intimidation

• Abandonment, Neglect, Emotional, Physical & Sexual Mal-treatment or Abuse

• Addiction(s)

• Domestic Violence

• Community Violence (e.g. gang aggression, interracial aggression, police & citizen altercations, destructive individual & group violence)

ACE’s (Felitti & Anda, 1995-97) Study Findings:• ACE’s are

common.• ACE’s often occur

together.• ACE’s have a

dose-response relationship with many health problems.

9 Areas of Childhood Trauma:• Physical abuse• Sexual abuse• Emotional abuse• Physical Abuse • Emotional neglect • Mother treated

violently• Household mental

illness• Household substance

abuse• Parental separation

or divorce• Incarcerated

household member

Co-Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente & Centers for Disease Control

Racing ACEs if it’s not racially just, it’s not trauma informed

Adverse Childhood Experiences* Historical Trauma/Embodiment of Oppression

Early Death/

Quality of

Life Loss for

POC

Burden of

Dis/ease for POC

Coping (risk - embodimentand exposure to structural

racism and whitesupremacy)

Allostatic Load, Disrupted Neurological Development,

White Fragility, Grief & Rage of POC

Social Identity Threat, Micro and Macro

Aggressions, Complex Trauma, ACEs

Structural Racism, White Supremacy

Social Devaluation of People of Color

Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma

Historical Trauma

Trauma and Social Location

Implicit

bia

s,epig

enetics

Early

Death

Disease,

Disability, and

Social Problems

Adoption of Health-risk

Behaviours

Social, Emotional, & Cognitive

Impairment

Adverse Childhood Experiences

conception

death

S ientific gaps

*https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/

Adapted by RYSE, 2016

There is a cumulative impact to immersing ourselves in other people’s trauma.

Compassion Fatigue

• A state of exhaustion and dysfunction biologically, physiologically, and emotionally as a result of prolonged exposure to compassion stress (Figley, 1993)

• “The weariness that comes from caring” (Johnson, 1997)

Who Is Vulnerable to Compassion Fatigue?• Helpers who are empathetic

• Helpers who have experienced some painful or traumatic event(s) in their own lives which are unresolved, and in turn, activated by similar reports of pain/trauma in others

• Helpers who work directly with the painful/traumatic experiences of children

• Helpers who take care of others and often neglect or are unaware of their own feelings and needs

Continuum of Compassion Fatigue

Where Are You?

We all cope & adapt (whether it’s consciously or

unconsciously) to the stress/trauma we encounter daily.

Positive change & growth can result from extreme stress

and trauma.

Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG)

•Positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a major life crisis or a traumatic event • (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2018)

PTG Characteristics (Tedeschi & Calhoun, https://ptgi.uncc.edu/what-is-ptg/

• Positive changes self perception

• Changed relationships – Including increased connectedness

• Increased belief in self

• Greater appreciation for life

• Belief system changes - Including deepening of spiritual life

Self-care is the most powerful antidote to compassion stress

& fatigue.

Self-Care & Wellness

https://www.samhsa.gov/wellness-initiative/eight-dimensions-wellness

Creating Your Own Plan

If You Don’t Take Care…

Self-Care Means….

The Cognitive Behavioral Framework –http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub

Practicing

Self-Awareness

Self-Care Means….

Taking Responsibility for Self

Self-Care Means…

Getting our needs met in healthy ways.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Self-Care Means…

Fostering Our Own Resilience

Self-Care Means…

Finding & Maintaining Balance

Self-Care Means…

Seeking Support

Self-Care Means…

Communicating Clearly & Having Courageous Conversations

Self-Care Means…

Practicing Gratitude

Self-Care Means…

Learning to Love Thyself!

Benefits Of Self-Care/Wellness

•Less Stress/Distress

•Positive Behavior & Fewer Problems

• Improved Performance

•Stronger Relationship(s)

•Happy Heart & Brighter Disposition

A Few Closing Reminders…

• Keep up the amazing work;

• Commit to continually growing yourself;

• Take good care of yourself;

• Know you are deeply appreciated for all that you do!

“One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to

intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and

willing to show it.”

- Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Thank You!

Dr. Mona M. Johnson, CDP

Director Student Support, OSPI

Mona.johnson@k12.wa.us

360.725.6050