The Journey Back from Burnout
The Journey Back from Burnout
By Maura Crossin
Assistant Director of Training and Consultation, Victim Rights Law Center
“Creating a culture of trauma-informed care requires us to look at our organizational culture, at the way we treat each other, and at the way we treat those we serve. It requires us to be intentional about creating a culture that is safe and respectful for everyone.”
– Sandra L. Bloom, M.D., CTIPP Board Chair, Founder of Creating PRESENCE
Over the span of my career, I have worked at seven different non-profits, all in the social services sector. By the 7th one, I found myself in the exact position that I warn others about – burnt out and contemplating leaving the legal profession for good. No amount of yoga, therapy, or meditation could save me from the vicarious trauma I felt. I wondered why others could sustain in this work and I couldn’t. After 8 months of reflection and healing, I now understand that nothing is wrong with me. My burn out was an inevitable reaction to working at places and within systems that were not trauma-informed.
My experiences begs the question – How is it that organizations with missions focused on bettering the lives of others, can allow a culture to exist that is so harmful to its own staff? How do we shift this norm in the non-profit sector? This goal is attainable with the right intentions, strategies, and leaders. We must shift the conversation from “self-care” to “organization-” and “community-care”. We simply cannot sustain helping others in a trauma-informed way if we are ourselves are not cared for in a trauma-informed way.
Reflecting on my journey to understand what led to my burn out, I did the hard work of healing and rebuilding my resilience reserve. Here is what I learned:
- Effective, trauma-informed supervision is essential to those working on the front lines in any profession. If you are in a supervisory role, you must be trained to manage staff. If you are supervising lawyers, and you are not yourself a lawyer, develop relationships with ones locally who might be willing to collaborate and provide supervision and mentorship.
- Those working in the anti-sexual violence field need clinical support. Organizations need to work to have this available in-house or through external partnerships. The cost of mental health treatment to combat traumatic stress from the job should not be the burden of the employee.
- Organizational culture begins with internal policies. Take a hard and intentional look at yours. Do organizational policies account for the lived experiences and intersecting identities of all staff? Can people bring their whole selves to the job and feel valued for who they are? Seek out staff feedback, be transparent about the process to make changes, and be willing to make regular policy updates.
- Organization leaders need to be innovators for change. Be open and flexible to doing things in new ways that have not been tried before. Be prepared to make mistakes, own them, and do better. Do the work to build the trust of your staff with honest communication and obvious commitment.
Lastly, you do not have to do this work alone! We know it may feel overwhelming at first. Your organization may not have the infrastructure to implement a trauma-informed approach, but you can seek help from organizations like VRLC who do! Collaboration and support are key to being successful. Reach out to [email protected] to learn more about how VRLC can provide consultation, training, and policy reviews to support your work.
Maura Crossin is the Assistant Director of Training and Consultation at VRLC. She comes to this role after working directly with survivors for many years as a lawyer and advocate and is passionate about helping direct service providers sustain in this field.