Restoring Passion in The Helping Profession

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After enduring a year marked by personal trials, including my husband's melanoma diagnosis and my own battle with breast cancer, I've gained a deeper understanding of the often-unseen challenges faced by those of us in the helping professions. I am Dr. Julie Merriman, and in this episode of SoulJoy, I open up about my journey through these hardships and the critical lessons I've learned about burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. These occupational hazards, if left unchecked, can severely impact our body, mind, and soul, stripping away the joy we once felt in our work and lives.

This episode isn't just about my story; it's also a call to action for all professional helpers to recognize and address these hazards before they become overwhelming. Drawing on extensive research and my own experiences, I provide strategies for setting healthy boundaries and reclaiming joy in our personal and professional lives. With a shocking statistic that 70% of helping professionals face these issues, it's time to confront the epidemic of becoming "crispy fried." Through my book "In Pursuit of Joy" and this podcast, I aim to empower you to reconnect with your life and rediscover the joy that may have been lost along the way. Join me as we embark on the journey to reclaim our lives and find our joy again.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey y'all, it's Dr Julie Merriman and welcome to
SoulJoy.
In today's episode we're goingto explore the occupational
hazards of professional helpersand look at some proven
strategies to combat these.
Okay, thank you so much forjoining me for episode one.

(00:32):
Can y'all believe that I'vebeen wanting to do this for so
long?
But y'all, this year, oh, mylanta this year has been rough.
My beloved husband, kelly, hasbeen fighting melanoma and it
spread to his brain and that'sjust been a mess.
I've spent way too many nightsin the hospital with him and
then, believe it or not, I hadmy own battle with breast cancer

(00:54):
last June.
Oh, but that you know.
I'm fine, that's going to befine.
But let me just sum it up bysaying we are a hot mess, but
you know it's a journey and I'mhonored to take that journey
with my beloved.
As y'all are going to learnpretty soon, I'm pretty crazy
about this guy.
I really am, and I think June24th Now I know June 24th is our

(01:18):
29th wedding anniversary, sothat's a pretty big milestone
these days and he has been myeverything since about 1992 when
we started dating.
But I don't know about y'alland your spouses, but he really
is my home and my safe place andjust my comfort.
So I'm honored to do this hotmess with him.

(01:44):
Okay, so let's segue into thisthing called occupational
hazards of professional helpers.
Charles Figley is the guy thatreally started.
Well, no, sue Joyner, who was anurse, really coined the term,
and then Charles Figley went onto do a lot of research with it

(02:05):
and I did my dissertation onthis.
I've been researching thisstuff for a lot of years, but I
want y'all to know that theoccupational hazards are
well-researched andwell-documented and the hazards
I'm going to be talking aboutare burnout, compassion, fatigue
and vicarious trauma, and youmight wonder why it's important

(02:29):
to know about these, but I wantyou to know y'all.
If it's left untreated, if youdon't do something about it,
you're going to feel miserable.
These are going to impact yourbody, mind and soul.
So it's worth taking the timeto just learn about these
hazards.
Before I give you thedefinitions, I want to be honest

(02:54):
and tell you about my brushwith these occupational hazards.
I can laugh now, but it was notfunny at the time.
But it was not funny at thetime.
Back.
Maybe 2010 is when I really gotimpacted.
I went through my graduateprogram in 94, so and started my

(03:15):
private practice in 99.
So you know, I've been at this,the helping field, for quite a
few years.
I'm a licensed professionalcounselor, I'm a registered play
therapist, I'm a traumatherapist, I'm a certified yoga
therapist.
I've been doing this stuff fora while, but when my brush with

(03:36):
these bad boys happened, I hadno healthy boundaries, y'all.
I was a people pleaser.
I allowed clients to own myschedule.
I worked 15 hour days.
Please don't do that.
Please don't do that.
But I did.
I own it.
I would skip lunch.
I woke up dreading the day andit was my own fault.

(03:59):
I'd completely over my days,but I was miserable.
I had lost the capacity to feelany sort of joy, no joy.
I'd lost the capacity to feelanything.
In fact, I'd lost me throughall that.
I don't want that to happen toy'all.

(04:19):
Now here's the good news I didfind my way back and that, my
friend, is why I wrote my bookIn Pursuit of Joy and why I
started this podcast forprofessional helpers.
I don't want y'all to becomeimpacted and crispy fried

(04:39):
because that's become anepidemic.
I think it's like 70% of thehelping profession becomes
impacted by these occupationalhazards.
I believe it's time to reclaimyour life and I want to help you
fall back in love with thatlife.
Okay, so that's just a littletouch on what I went through and

(05:03):
why we're here today.
But let's talk about whatburnout, compassion fatigue and
vicarious trauma really is.
So burnout is that sense of nothaving enough resources to meet
the demands.
So you know you just you feeloverwhelmed.
There's so much before you andyou've only got so much time and

(05:25):
you're just overwhelmed.
Compassion fatigue that's whenyou give more care than you have
to give.
And the tricky thing there isthat as professional helpers,
that's what we do.
We care, we're compassionate,we're empathic and we're giving
that to others all day long.
But there's a finite amount ofthat and when we give more than

(05:51):
we have to give, that ends upwith us being impacted by
compassion fatigue.
And then there's vicarioustrauma and y'all that's
especially ugly left untreated,unattended.
It changes us, it changes thebeing of who we are.
What you once loved and foundjoy with no longer gives you joy

(06:14):
.
You no longer want to be aprofessional helper.
You I don't know if y'all haveever worked or been gone to a
staffing and there's that oldcrunchy counselor or helper in
there who no longer likesclients, does not see any good
in the clients that they'reseeing and really they have very

(06:37):
impacted clinical skills andthat's because they're most
likely impacted by vicarioustrauma and they have not done
anything to take care ofthemselves.
It's changed.
Maybe they were once thisfabulous counselor and they
allowed it to change who theywere and now they hate the idea
of counseling.

(06:57):
I mean, I've sat in staffingsand just thought what is going
on?
Well, that's what's going on.
It's our brain.
When we sit and listen totrauma all day and sit with
broken souls all day, our braindoesn't know.
When we're good at it and we'replugged in to that client, our

(07:19):
brain doesn't know thedifference, that that trauma
isn't our trauma.
So it's reacting to all thosestories and dumping all those
hormones into our system that wehave to metabolize and it just
it wears us out.
So we don't want to be impactedby vicarious trauma, compassion
, fatigue or burnout.

(07:40):
It's really a neuroscience ofexhaustion, if you will.
We give more than we have togive and we connect with others
and, like I said, our brain justreacts and it becomes too much.
All right, so you might bethinking, okay, great, dr M, I

(08:02):
get it.
But now what?
And that's the good news.
There are things to be done,and I'm glad you asked so.
First, if you think you mighteven be impacted by any of this,
I want you to go directly toAmazon and purchase my book In
Pursuit of Soul Joy a 12-weekguide for overcoming burnout and

(08:25):
compassion fatigue.
Now, it won't hit amazon until,um, uh, I'm just gonna say
august, the fall.
But when it does, I reallyinvite you to to get a copy,
because I have a lot of goodtechniques, techniques that I
used as I was recovering fromall this razzmatazz.
If you will, will, okay, sothat's enough of the plug there.

(08:48):
I do want you to know it's therefor you, though, but y'all,
since we're here together rightnow, I want to give you just a
real simple technique to try tostart building a tool belt, if
you will, or toolbox, if youwill, to help you combat any of
these what I'm going to callsecondary traumatic stressors,

(09:08):
and that's burnout, compassionfatigue, vicarious trauma.
I want to normalize that foryou.
So often in this profession, wefeel ashamed, like maybe we're
not doing something rightbecause we're being impacted by
this and y'all.
That's just not the case.
It's just not the case's justnot the case.
It's because you are badass atwhat you do that you've become

(09:29):
impacted or that you might befeeling a little bit raw around
the edges.
So here's a real simpletechnique that I just invite you
to try.
Okay, so it's summer, right, it?
We've passed memorial day, it'ssummer and it's time to invite
nature into.
So I want to invite you to gooutside.

(09:53):
Find a nice grassy little spot.
Maybe you have to take a littlewalk to find it.
Maybe you walk out your frontdoor and make sure it's clean,
make sure no puppy dogs havebeen around there.
But find a nice little grassypatch and I want you to take off
your shoes and your socks and Iwant you to stand in this nice

(10:14):
grassy patch and just rub yourfeet, maybe walk back and forth,
just really feel the grassbetween your toes, the earth
under your being, and groundyourself.
Really find that enjoyment injust grounding yourself and
notice how yummy that grassfeels on the bottom of your feet

(10:35):
.
And as you're doing this, Iwant you to just stand there for
a moment, soaking in thatvitamin D that the sun so, so
generously offers.
And as you're standing there, Iwant you to do just a real
quick scan.
Pay attention to your feet andhow that grass feels under your

(10:56):
feet, notice your legs.
Move your attention to yourtummy, notice your chest, your
throat and your head and justnotice.
Notice how the sun feels onyour body, notice how your feet
feel on the ground and just findsome joy.

(11:17):
Maybe just smile and think howbeautiful it is to be able to do
that and it's absolutely freeand it's absolutely good for you
.
And do that for about fiveminutes.
Just wiggle your toes, walkaround, maybe go up on the balls
of your feet and down, get someenergy into your feet.

(11:38):
Maybe do a couple of squats,get some energy into your legs,
notice how different that mightfeel.
And remember that thatwonderful vitamin D helps to
regulate your emotions and helpswith your overall wellness.
So take a couple of deepbreaths, go back to your shoes,

(12:01):
get your shoes back on, go backinside, find a nice comfortable
place to sit and do just anotherbody scan Feet, legs, tummy,
chest, throat, head.
I'm hitting your chakras.
We'll talk more about chakrasin another couple of podcasts.

(12:24):
I'll be talking about chakras alot on this podcast because I
think that they are eminentlyimportant in our health, our
overall wellness, our overallmental health.
But as you're doing that secondbody scan, I want you to just be
curious and notice any physicalsensations that might be coming

(12:45):
up as you're doing that bodyscan.
Bring absolute curiosity, nojudgment whatsoever.
Curiosity, no judgmentwhatsoever.
Just be curious.
How does it feel to have goneoutside and gotten a little dose
of vitamin D and gotten myselfgrounded into Mother Earth for
just a couple of seconds?
Do I feel the joy?

(13:05):
Where did that smile land thatI did, which probably didn't
conjugate it right, but I did alittle bit earlier?
Do I have any joy in my body?
Where might it be?
So, just practice the body scan.
That's a great tool that I'llbe using with y'all quite a bit
in this podcast.

(13:26):
But that, my friend, is just areal quick technique to get out
of your office, get out of yourhead.
I know when I'm writing books Ihave to leave my office and go
ground like that just to just toreadjust and and, um, just get
a hot minute of relief, if youwill.

(13:46):
That is there for you inbetween clients, when maybe
someone at home has escalatedsome of your adrenaline, maybe
when you're just feeling blah.
It's a great tool and techniqueto use.
So this week, I just invite youto bring in more nature and

(14:09):
y'all.
This could be a walk, it couldbe adding houseplants to your
house, it could be pulling weedsin your garden, it could be
harvesting some yummy squash outof your garden, or maybe y'all
it's just mowing your yard.
But I want you to be verypurposeful in this process,
because research tells us thatbringing nature into your life

(14:34):
is healing and it amplifies youroverall wellness.
And again, it's free.
So that, my friend is it fortoday.
Please, please, please,subscribe to this podcast.
Wherever you like to listen topodcasts, please leave me a

(14:58):
review.
That helps me so much.
I'm also able to reach morepeople the more reviews I have.
So thank you for that and y'all.
If you're bored or you'rethinking, man, I'd like to know
about this, that or the other,drop me an email.
Let me know what topics youmight be interested in.
I want to support you.
Okay, so until next time, Iwant you to take care of you.

(15:24):
Outro Music.