In the article “Self-Compassion, Stress and Coping” I found that self-compassion can have many positive outcomes when dealing with a negative situation or event. The article looks at the ways in which people who have high levels of self-compassion versus people who have low levels of self-compassion cope with stress, in doing this the researchers show the positive effect of self-compassion. As Denise mentioned compassion and mindfulness as a coping strategy come from the teachings of Buddhism. The article identifies three primary features of self-compassion; self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness. (Neff, 2003) A leading researcher on self-compassion, Dr. Neff, identified three components of self-compassion. Firstly in simple terms
The two essays “On Compassion” and “This is Water” by Barbara Ascher and David Wallace argue their different viewpoints on both compassion and empathy. While Ascher simply argues that compassion is not a simple character trait but more so a skill acquired overtime; Wallace tries to convince his audience that humans are preprogramed to be motivated by their own selfish desires and must reprogram themselves to think out of sympathy and concern for others. Barbara Ascher’s, essay, “On Compassion,” compels the audience to interpret the compassion and empathy with their underlying definitions. Ascher states “I don’t believe that one is born compassionate. Compassion is not a character trait like a sunny disposition.
Compassion has became something rare in our society, and something that a lot of people lack. The author, Barbara Lazear Ascher, explains to us that compassion is not a character trait, but rather something that we learn along the way with the help of real life situations we encounter, such as the ones she encountered herself. Ascher persuades her audience that compassion is not just something you are born with by using anecdotes, rhetorical questions, and allusions.
This paper will also talk about the importance of self –care and what I would do, or things I could do to mitigate those biases and difficult reactions to clients and people that I am working with in a treatment team so that I am fully aware and not distracted by my personal reactions, to a case.
In 2015, Proceeding of the National Academy was published, and the study was about compassion feeling in the society.
Patsiopoulos and Buchanan (2011) used a narrative design research to study how 15 experienced counselors practice self-compassion in counseling. Based on the experiences of the participants, important information for training and educating practitioners in the areas of self-care and burnout prevention were obtained in the practice of ...
In a world of suffering and pain the Dalai Lama said, “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive”. The Dalai Lama has become a figurehead for Buddhism worldwide for his compassion and warm smiles. Buddhism has extended beyond meditation and even monks such as the Dalai Lama. The basic concepts of compassion and mindfulness in Buddhism are being applied in the daily lives of lay people who need it the most.
The definition of compassion is “sympathetic consciousness of another’s distress with a desire to alleviate it” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2011). Compassion and the desire to nourish may be the deciding factors that would lead one to pursue a career in nursing. Nurses over the span of their career will have extensive exposure to trauma, pain, and unfortunate situations. Workplace stressors such as scheduling and increasing workload along with repeated exposure to the hardships of others predisposes caregivers, especially nurses, to develop a unique type of burnout labeled compassion fatigue (Joinson 1992). Compassion fatigue develops when a nurse unintentionally takes on the misfortune, anxiety, pain, and trauma of the patients they care for.
The progress made through this intervention has to be watched to see if it is temporary or something that will perdure with continues practice of gratitude contemplation and recording. Nevertheless, the intervention helped the participant in decreasing his self-worry. It is the opinion of the researcher that even though, gratitude intervention is successful in his case and other trials carried out by renowned scholars like, Emmons & McCullough, (2003), Emmons & Stein, (2013), Seligman et al (2005) Watsin et al (2003), Matsuba, (2011), more studies should be done to determine the effectiveness of this intervention, the population and cases where it is most effective.
In the depths of an individual’s being, lies his or her self-worth. Self-worth molds individuals into who they are, what they want to become. Self-worth lies at the heart of self-esteem. Self-esteem is, Palladino (1994) a blend of “self-confidence, self-worth, and self-respect. It involves respecting others, [along with] feeling a sense of harmony and peace within yourself” (sec.1p.1). The secret to higher self-esteem is the incentive to take accountability for one’s viewpoints, such as his or her aspirations, ethics, capabilities, and curiosities and to understand that these things combined is what makes them who they are (Palladino, 1994). However, the quest of higher self-esteem at times will cause sacrifices to be made by the individual to education, relationships, self-regulation, mental and physical health, as well as other concerns (Crocker & Knight, 2005).
Kaviani & Hatami (2016), analyzed primary research information for a correlation between personality traits and mindfulness. In this report, mindfulness is defined as paying attention to every action, and showing the ability to change (Kaviani and Hatami 2016). Personality traits reviewed in this study are: empathy, Theory of mind, openness, pro-social behavior, and suggestibility. A questionnaire focusing on all five of the listed personality traits and mindfulness, were given to a group of 275 participants. It was found that those with a high mindful rating, correlated with the listed traits to a higher degree than those in with low mindful ratings (see Appendix A for chart). There were two classifications of mindfulness (low and high mindfulness).
Compassion is a feeling that humans portray towards others, but you also have to act in some way to aid them and to decrease their suffering. Barbara Lazear Ascher's purpose “On Compassion” of her essay was to distinguish emotions that people feel towards homeless people. She posed the question of whether or not people feel compassion or pity towards homeless people. The thesis statement is the first sentence, which encompasses the main themes that compassions revolves around somebody’s circumstances, rather than a situation that one can dream about. In other words, it is one’s reality. Specifically, “the man’s grin is less the result of circumstance
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
Compassion cannot be confided to just a feeling or emotion of empathy, or the antidote to pleasure of peace. Compassion is a vehicle to improve one’s being, physically, mentally and emotionally. Even without the desire to reach Buddhahood, everyone can benefit from employing and expressing compassion as it is one of the few things one can do that benefits oneself as much as others.
Compassion fatigue is defined as “The emotional residue or strains of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events” (The American Institute of Stress, n.d.). Compassion fatigue occurs when healthcare workers, especially those who work with patients one-on-one daily, feel the emotional stress of their jobs starting to wear on them. For example, a person who works with a cancer patient and watches that patient worsen and finally pass away, may experience great emotional pain. Dealing with stressful situations over time could also cause compassion fatigue. One way to prevent compassion fatigue is through implementation of Schwartz rounds. “Schwartz rounds are not 'problem solving'. Instead, the focus is on the emotional experiences of staff caring for patients and they allow staff to explore, in an environment that is safe and confidential, situations that confront them.” (Thompson, A. (2013). Schwartz rounds are like support groups for healthcare workers. They allow healthcare providers to share their struggles as caregivers and solve their strugg...
It is important to continue to grow and develop personally and professionally. It can make us aware of our strengths and weaknesses and so conscious of what needs to be developed and improved upon. This is an ongoing process throughout our lives. According to (Day, Halpin & Zaccaro, 2004, cited by Share & Lalor, 2009, p123) for ‘self-development to occur, a person needs to become aware of his/her internal processes {thoughts, feelings, moods, beliefs and actions} and have an awareness of how these internal processes impact on others as an external process. (Share & Lalor, 2009, p123) Self-awareness and self-development work hand in hand with one another, as do personal and professional development. ‘Conscious bringing into awareness of a greater understanding of both who, and how, we are in the world is known as the process of personal development.’ (Parfitt, 2006 as cited by Share & Lalor, 2009, p233) By actively working on our self-development we can advance and progress and not be stuck at a certain point. ‘The social care worker is not practising to his or her full potential if they are not engaged in awareness and development of the self.’ (Share & Lalor, 2009, p123) Winter 2009,(cited by Fenton 2016), states that ‘self-awareness, self-management and self-care are critical elements of emotional and professional competence.’