Caring for drug care- givers
Yes, sometimes when an addict slumps into their probation counselor’s office insisting that their urine sample was tampered with, their counselor wants nothing more than to tell them off.
At least a handful of probation workers admitted to such frustrations Thursday, during a training session at Butler County Community College. The session, one of several in a two-day conference titled “Butler County Faces Addiction,” centered on combating an effect called “compassion fatigue.”
The idea is simple: endless numbers of strung-out clients can impact counselors’ ability to empathize, getting in the way of their job.
Shawn Pugh, a grant writer in Butler County’s court system, organized the event and hopes it’s the first of what becomes an annual conference in Butler. He picked topics for breakout sessions and honed in on compassion fatigue as one such topic, after noticing a problem in the area.
“People here have this attitude of, ‘Oh just let them die,’” Pugh said. “They say, ‘Let them have two shots of Narcan then let them die,’ or something like that. But what if after the tenth time, that person suddenly gets it? Isn’t it worth it then?”
Pugh said some addicts snap out of it after the first or second overdose. But others take longer.
“You say, ‘Let them die,’” Pugh said. “Well what if that was your son? If we show up at the party and he’s unconscious on the ground, do you want us to step over his body to get to the guy who hasn’t had his two overdoses already?”
Carl Dawson, an associate of organizations like the National Drug Court Institute and the National Judicial College, was one of the conference’s keynote speakers.
Dawson spoke at length about the anatomy of the human brain and the specifics of addiction.
“I want people to understand that this is a medical disease, not a willpower disease,” Dawson said. “This is a neurological disease.”
But remembering that can be hard when your clients seem to relapse no matter what you do, Ken Montrose reminded a room full of conference attendees. Montrose, a training director at Greenbriar Treatment Center, taught the training session on compassion fatigue.
“These ambulance crews,” Montrose said. “I’m a big supporter of Narcan, but when you’re running around Narcaning, Narcaning, Narcaning, it gets old.”
It can be difficult to do one’s job, Montrose said, when one knows their odds of success.
“What’s heroin cost now?” he said. “A stamp bag is what, $7 to $10? Some of you probably have that much in change in your car. Look at what we’re up against.”
Montrose had a series of job burnout and compassion fatigue warning signs for attendees to monitor. Signs include things like emotional withdrawal, depression and a softening of personal values.
Do news stories on overdoses have you down? Montrose had some tips for the professionals that might be useful.
Use your vacation days, he urged the room. Wallow in the success stories that do come from those suffering from addiction. When things get too boring or too much of a drag, stand up and walk away.
“You have an ethical duty to take care of yourself,” Montrose said. “Because with compassion fatigue, there’s just no clear way around it.”
Thursday’s conference included a second day of programming on Friday that was not open to the public. That day’s programs taught law enforcement and related workers to better identify drug use that’s hiding in plain sight.
The conference was funded through ticket sales and sponsorship from Butler Health System, the Butler County Children’s Center and Diehl Toyota.
