Preventing compassion fatigue and burnout

Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2025 

 

Time: 10–11 am PST 

  

Audience: All faculty and staff at UBC Vancouver and Okanagan are welcome to attend.  

 

Location: Zoom. 

 

About this workshop: 

 

Many of us support others in our roles at UBC, whether by providing guidance to students, offering frontline services, or managing faculty and staff as a leader. The demands of these roles, in conjunction with administrative and other work responsibilities, can make us vulnerable to compassion fatigue and burnout.  

 

Compassion fatigue refers to the emotional and physical exhaustion that can result from caring for others. Burnout is the broader experience of chronic workplace stress characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.  

 

This one-hour workshop will equip participants with practical tools for identifying and addressing signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout in the workplace. 

 

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: 

  • Differentiate between the constructs of compassion fatigue and burnout. 
  • Identify potential ripple effects, both at work and beyond, of compassion fatigue and burnout.
  • Outline specific language and at least two strategies for addressing compassion fatigue and burnout at work.

Important notes: 

  • The session will be recorded and the slides will be shared. 
  • There will be no breakout rooms.
  • Closed captioning can be enabled.

 

About your facilitators:  

 

Janet Gwilliam-Wright (she/her) 

 

Janet Gwilliam-Wright has fifteen years’ of experience leading large organizational change and working on complex policy issues. A leader in the grief and loss space, Janet founded the Motherlove Project, a global platform for motherless daughters.  

 

Janet received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Arts and Public Administration from Queen's University.  

 

 

Dr. Mekel Harris (she/her) 

 

Dr. Mekel Harris (she/her) holds a B.A. in Psychology from Baylor University, an M.A. in Psychology from Houston Baptist University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical/School Psychology from the University of Houston and further honed her skills through a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.  

 

Mekel serves diverse communities through hospital-based programs, higher education, and her private practice, Harris Psychological Services, LLC. Mekel and Janet are the co-founders of Bloomwell Partners, LLC., a global training and consulting firm helping to make workplaces more compassionate, one organization at a time. 

 

 

If you have any questions, please email Lauren Lee at lauren.lee@ubc.ca. 

Register now

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