This document summarizes a training for navigators at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health AIDS Activities Coordinating Office CLUB 1509 Program. The training covered the importance of self-care and supervision to prevent compassion fatigue. It discussed how lack of self-care and proper supervision can lead to negative consequences like negligence, malpractice, and boundary violations. The training provided strategies for developing a self-care plan, creating a support system, and maintaining work-life balance.

1. Philadelphia Department of Public Health
AIDS Activities Coordinating Office
CLUB 1509 Program
First Friday Training

3. Opening Act: Sanctuary Model
 How are your feeling?
 Do you have any self-
care plans this
weekend? If so , what?
 Who will you ask for
support today?

4. “Self-Care is not about self-indulgence.
It’s about self-preservation.”
-Audrey Lorde
What words do you think of when you see these images?
What does these images have to do with self care?

5. THE TREAT YO’SELF MANTRA
 PLAY HERE

6. •Discuss navigation supervision models with a focus
on supportive supervision.
•Effectively discuss sources of navigation services in
the field environment.
•Explore techniques for addressing navigation
teams compassion fatigue through trauma-
informed supervision and the development care
plans.
•Understanding of what is Self-Care and it’s
importance.
•Understanding the natural consequences of not
providing self-care .
•Creating your owe self care plan

7. Questions to consider throughout
the training:
 Do I receive weekly/ monthly supervision as a
clinician?
 Do I has ever received supervisory leadership
development training prior to supervision staff?
 Do I know what is reflective supervision training?
 Have I ever experience compassion fatigue?
 Do I have a self-care plan?

9. What Does Supervision have to do
with Self-Care?
When we do not have proper supervision it could cause
a negative trickle down effect professionally and
personally.
 Supervision can be a tool to keep you highly motivated to learn.
 Process any counter-transference challenges you may be having with
clients
 Interventions
 Making sure you are practicing the best cultural competence.
 Maintaining healthy relationships with colleagues and management.
 Career goals.

10. What is Supervision?
 Definition of supervision as established by the NASW
and ASWB taskforce.
 Supervision protects clients, supports practitioners and
ensures professional standards. Within this relationship
the supervisor is responsible for providing direction to
the supervisee.

11. The Importance and value of Supervision
 The Supporter
A Supervisor offers your support and explore with
the supervisee how the act of doing great navigation
work effects and influences the supervisee.
 Use your supervisor as a point of reference whenever you
have a situation or case you are unsure of.
 Be open to all of the different ways cases could be handle.
 Even in supervision you still are an advocate for your client.
 Always ask is there anything I could be doing better or
more effective.

12. Reflective Supervision
 Encourage exploration of emotional
thoughts/feelings
 Listen to the experiences of one another
 Discussions surround potential adverse
reactions/response to clients being served
 Remain Open

15. Preventing Compassion Fatigue:
The Role of Self Care in Navigation Services
 Vicarious Trauma- is the emotional residue of exposure
from constant rehearing of their trauma stories and
witnessing pain, fear, and terror expressed by trauma
survivors.
 Compassion fatigue- as a result of the emotional
demands of the work, CF develops when the
consequences of frequent exposure to trauma stories,
organizational stress, limited work resources culminate
and create physiological, emotional and spiritual fatigue
impacting empathetic responses and the inability to find
pleasure in working.

16. What is Self-Care
 Self-care is defined as self-
nurturing methods that
affirm and protect social
workers as they undertake
the care of others (Sakvitne
& Pearlman, 1996).
 Self-care is called, “an
essential underpinning to
the best practice in the
profession of social work” by
the NASW (Page 270, 2011).

17. Meet Susan
 Susan is a CLUB 1509 Navigator who has been working in a
HIV/AIDS prevention and counseling for approximately three
years since obtaining her degree.
 While Susan initially felt fulfilled and inspired by her work, for the
past year she has dreaded going to work each day and has even
called in sick a number of times due to feeling completely fatigued
and worn out.
 Susan reported that she has been having more and more difficulty
“leaving work at work” and found herself thinking of the clients
she works with at night and on weekends.
 Susan reported feeling overwhelmed by her caseload, which is
comprised entirely of men and trans people who have experienced
trauma.
 She reported feeling unsafe most of the time in her personal life
and has not dated for close to a year. She indicated that she was
having so much difficulty sleeping.
 Susan was waking up late for work and even missed a few
appointments due to her lack of sleep.

18. What Happened Next?
 Things come to a head for Susan when she showed up late
for work one day to find her supervisor meeting with one of
her clients who was endorsing significant suicidal ideation.
 Susan’s supervisor becomes furious as she begins to review
the client’s file which is missing session notes and has no
previous documentation regarding assessment for safety.
 As Susan’s supervisor begins questioning Susan, she notes
that Susan is not being attentive to them.
 Upon further review of Susan’s files, the supervisor finds
numerous errors and omissions including no
documentation of informed consent.
 Later that morning, Susan’s supervisor receives a call from
Susan telling her that another one of her clients had called
to find talk about there HIV test results, and Susan missed
that appointment as well.

19. Process Questions
 What might Susan have done differently to have a
better outcome?
 What could have been implemented to help prevent
Susan from violating her ethics code and experiencing
burnout?

20. Strategies
As Susan’s mood, functioning, and work
satisfaction began to decline she could have
implemented strategies at the
organizational, professional, and personal self-
care levels.
 Talking to her supervisor about diversifying her caseload and work
responsibilities
 Receiving Supervision consultation
 Communicating with others about her symptoms
 Balancing her life to include other relaxing or fun activities
 Sleep Hygiene
 Periodic assessment of her levels of burnout

22. How Does Ethics Play into Self Care?
 If someone from the navigation team is experiencing burnout, or
compassion fatigue, they may be at higher risk of using poor
judgment regarding their own abilities and competence to provide
services and/or supervise others providing services.
 This puts providers at risk for negligence and even
malpractice.

23. Negligence and Malpractice Occur when:
 Intervention used are not within the realm of accepted professional
practice
 Procedures or techniques are used without proper training or
established understanding
 Providers fail to use treatment(s) that would have been more
effective.
 Providers fail to take action due to being overwhelmed/unhealthy
 Adverse events such as suicide or homicide occur due to negligence
on provider’s part.
Press Play

24. Boundary Violations (Reminder From Previous Training)
 Blurring boundaries is another ethical pitfall for the unhealthy
navigation team.
 The inability to maintain a professional stance due to the negative
effects of burnout or compassion fatigue would have terrible
repercussions for client and navigator alike.
 Being vigilant about boundaries takes energy and clear thinking and
every attempt should be made to act purposefully to avoid going down
the slippery slope of boundary violations.
 The unhealthy navigator may not readily identify entering into dual
relationships, which almost always result in problems for all involved.
 In addition, while a healthy navigation team can easily identify their
own professional weak spots, those impacted by burnout or compassion
fatigue may have a compromised ability to do so.

25. Lapses in Judgment
 Other ethical issues that may arise for
unhealthy navigation teams
include lapses in judgment regarding:
Mandatory reporting
Breach of confidentiality
Exercising privilege
Duty to warn

27. Creating Work/Life
Balance/Harmony
 Balance isn’t easy in life
 Understand the season of life and change
 Establish reasonable boundaries
 Be Present
 Taking care of yourself is not being selfish
 Focus on your priorities
 Be kind to yourself
 Be mindful
 Be honest with yourself about your abilities
Press Play

28. Developing a Self Care Plan
 Create a Support System
 Show you appreciation
 Stay in touch with others in your field
 Accept other help
 Make sure lines of communications are open.
 Respect your own needs and limits
 Know when a relationship is not working for you
These are just some can you think of others we
could add?

29. Lets Review Some of the Tools
Self Care Inventory
Professional Quality
of Life Scale

30. Examples of Treat Yo Self
Leave the Bubble
Build a Support Network
PRESS PLAY!

31. Resources
 University at Buffalo – Our Self-Care Kit
http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit.html
 Black Queer and Trans Women Discuss Self Care -
http://elixher.com/eleven-black-queer-and-trans-women-discuss-self-
care/
 Self Care List: How to take care of yourself while learning about
oppression (with unaware people) -
https://fabianswriting.tumblr.com/post/69798253522/self-care-list-
how-to-take-care-of-your-self
 Developing a self-care plan-
http://au.professionals.reachout.com/developing-a-self-care-plan
 Ultimate Self-Care Assessment -
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/living-the-
questions/201504/your-ultimate-self-care-assessment-resources

32. Have A Great Weekend!