Seventeen experts from diverse backgrounds and a variety of professions share both their expert advice and their personal stories of overcoming compassion fatigue in a new book to be available on November 13th, 2024. RELIT – How to Rekindle Yourself in the Darkness of Compassion Fatigue gives practical, actionable tips on avoiding and recovering from caregiver burnout for people who give care to others, whether in a professional role or as an unpaid family caregiver.
Compassion fatigue, a state of profound emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to trauma and suffering, is one of the most pervasive and least discussed traumas that nearly every caregiver feels at one time or another. Millions of people choose a helper profession (everything from nurse to lawyer to veterinarian) because they care deeply and feel called to service. Millions more are thrust into unpaid caregiving roles due to illness, injury, or the natural course of aging. Despite this, there is a distressing lack of relevant, insightful, and actionable information on how to deal with the mental and emotional toll it takes.
“I really needed a book like this when I was thrust into becoming a caregiver to my 89 year old mom after she fell,” said Antoinette LeCouteur, a contributing author and one of the book’s editors. “But when I went looking, all I found were dense, scholarly articles and well-intentioned but largely unhelpful memoirs. I wanted to fix that.”
“Compassion fatigue shows up in so many ways, and it affects caring people regardless of age, culture, or profession.” added Peter Dudley, the book’s other editor. “Every unique story is relatable from a human perspective, and every author—from the nurse to the New York lawyer to the rugby coach who grew up in Africa—provides hard-earned wisdom for the rest of us.”
RELIT is a must-read for anyone in a helping profession, anyone in the middle of a caregiving situation, or anyone who anticipates needing to care for a loved one in the future.
The book is available for preorder now in paperback and hardcover, and it will be on sale wherever books are sold on November 13, 2024 in print and ebook.
More information can be found at graybearpublications.com/books/relit.
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Contributing Authors
Jean Accius, PhD – Chief Executive Officer of a national health equity nonprofit
Faith Albright, DVM – Veterinarian and owner/operator of an animal sanctuary
Larry Brouder – Global employee mobility expert and speaker
Dennis Brozzo, PMP – Executive, leadership, and life coach
Richa Chadha, MBA, MS – Mindset coach, speaker, and organizational psychologist
Peter Dudley, PCC – Leadership and life coach, author, and publisher
Nayely Duran, ACC – Consultant, trainer, and executive leadership coach
Tammy Hurst, RN, MSN, NC-BC – Registered nurse and board-certified nurse coach
Catherine Krause, RN, PHN – Consultant, and developer of the Empowered Aging framework
Jerrald Krause, PhD – Professor, co-founder of Center for Applied Social Analysis and Education
Antoinette LeCouteur – Unpaid family caregiver and philanthropy advisor and consultant
Jill Louise Léger – Geriatric recreational therapist and creator of The Sunflower Channel
Laura Plato, MSc – CEO of The New Frequency and social impact technology executive
Dr. Kenya Oscar Radoli – Technology sociologist and organization culture architect
Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD – Clinical psychologist, speaker, and mental health advocate
Margaret Stauffer, MS, LMFT – Marriage and family therapist and retired nonprofit director
Allison K. Wyman, JD – Family caregiving attorney, creator of the Cozy Caregiver Café podcast