Failure of Witnessing: Responding to Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, & Burnout

Live Online Workshop

Open to the public

3 CE hours are available for select professions. Please continue reading below for more information on the event.

• CSSW Alumni: Please email [email protected] for promotional code. Your email should contain your full name at the time you graduated and the year you graduated.
• Groups of 5+: select the appropriate group ticket when registering and enter the number of tickets you would like to purchase.
• CSSW Practicum Instructors supervising a CSSW student during the current or upcoming academic year: Please email [email protected] for promotional code. Include the name and year of the CSSW student you are supervising for the academic year.
• Current CSSW employees: Please email [email protected] for your OPE benefit. Your email should contain your full name and position.
• Other Columbia University faculty, staff, alumni: Please email [email protected] for the promotional code. Your email should contain your full name, position, and/or year and school of graduation. Email must be from your Columbia University email domain.

Join Dr. Kristen Slesar for a thought provoking consideration of the concepts of burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress (also known as trauma exposure response), discusses the ways in which even mental health providers fail to respond supportively to one another, and explores strategies for preventing and responding to trauma exposure response for individuals and agencies.

As agencies embrace the principles of Trauma-Informed Care, administrators and fellow clinicians continue to treat clinician care as a personal responsibility, even pathologizing those who experience burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress. With burnout as a primary cause of clinician error, however, the risks of neglecting clinician care are severe. This workshop presents trauma exposure response and burnout through a trauma-informed and structural humility lens in which responses are framed as both inevitable and manageable. Additionally, self-care and workplace care of providers is framed as an ethical imperative for clients, providers, and agencies alike.

As a result of this workshop, participants will be better able to

1. Describe and differentiate the concepts of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue
2. Assess their current clinical practice and/or organization for risk and resiliency factors related to trauma exposure response
3. Identify means of protecting themselves against trauma exposure response

9:30 - 9:40: Introduction

9:40 - 11:00: Defining and differentiating secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout

Common agency and clinician reactions to trauma exposure response

11:00 - 11:10: Break (10 minutes)

11:10 - 12:30 Prevention and management of trauma exposure response

Witnessing: What, when, how, why

Group exercise

Moving forward, closing thoughts

• Closing thoughts

Kristen Slesar, DSW, LCSW, MSW (bio) is a psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer specializing in working with victims/survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual abuse, rape, combat, and other forms of trauma. She is the project director of the Bronx Child Trauma Support Program of the Center for Justice Innovation, a program that provides therapy and advocacy to child and adolescent crime victims. Kristen provides training, consultation, and expert testimony on sexual and intimate partner violence and traumatized crime witnesses.

You will be sent an email containing the Zoom link at 6 p.m. EST the evening before and again 1 hour prior to the webinar start time. If you do not receive an email containing the webinar link by the times indicated here then check your SPAM folder and email us at [email protected] if you need further assistance. Please also note the following:

• You will be required to sign-in with your full name and answer a few registration questions.

• See Continuing Education information and requirements below if receiving CE hours.

3 live, online CE contact hours will be awarded to NY, NJ, and CT licensed social workers*, NY psychologists* , and NY mental health counselors *who have met the attendance requirements below.

Social Workers: CSSW is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. Provider #SW‐0021

*Social workers from other states, please confirm with your state licensing board. Please note that we do not specify type of credits (general, cultural competence, clinical, etc.) Many states have recognized Columbia University School of Social Work continuing education hours as we are a CSWE accredited institution and approved by the NYS Education Department to provide continuing education.

Psychologists: CSSW- OPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists. Provider #PSY-0194.

*Psychologists from other states, please confirm with your state licensing board.

Mental Health Counselors: NYSED State Board for Mental Health Practitioners recognizes the Center for Prolonged Grief as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0104)

*Mental health counselors from other states, please confirm with your state licensing board.

Please note that in order to receive your continuing education certificate, you must attend the entire workshop and complete the evaluation in accordance to NYSED regulations. There is a 10 minute grace period. Any participant who arrives/logs in past 9:40 AM OR leaves/logs out earlier than 12:20 PM will not receive CE credits. Refunds are not provided for late arrivals or early departures. Please plan accordingly.

CE Distribution: Evaluation and Certificate forms will be distributed via email within 1 week following the event to those meeting the attendance requirements above.

Special Accommodations: If you require disability accommodations to attend/participate in an event at Columbia University School of Social Work, please contact the Office of Professional Excellence at [email protected] at least 10 days in advance of the event.*

For events posted less than 10 days in advance, contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Grievance Policy: For information on our grievance policy, click here.

Fees will be refunded less a $5 processing fee, if email notification is received by the Office of Professional Excellence up to 14 days prior to the workshop date.

Refunds will not be provided to those not meeting the attendance requirements.

Host or Publisher Columbia School of Social Work