Studies of hospice workers have indicated that high levels of burnout occur in close to 30-40% of hospice workers, with 50-60% experiencing high levels of emotional exhaustion. Ineffective coping strategies play a significant role in burnout.
Some common ineffective coping strategies used by hospice caregivers, WHICH CAN CONTRIBUTE AND LEAD TO BURNOUT:

• Building one's whole life and identity around hospice work.
• Excessive self-judgment about one's self and one's work.
• Failing to create effective boundaries between work and home.
• Becoming addicted to stress by avoiding time for self-care and relaxation.
• Suppressing one's own feelings by staying overly busy.
• Failing to monitor one's own well-being while extending most of one's energy on helping others.
• Turning to excess food consumption, drugs or alcohol as a way to deal with grief and stress.
• Building one's support network with other hospice workers without developing and sharing proactive strategies to promote self-care and avoid burnout.
  

Anne Milligan presents to state and national conferences on the topic of self-care for the body, mind and soul of hospice and palliative care workers. As part of this initiative, Anne Milligan has created a CD entitled "Into the Light: Mindfulness Meditation for Relaxation, Healing, & Staying Well" which is an introduction to the direct practice of meditation to accomplish the following goals:

1. Decrease the mind/body stress of too much giving.
   
2. Increase the ability to nurture one's own self inwardly via guided imagery and "mindfulness". For our purposes here, mindfulness is the ability to be in one's own presence in a peaceful and non-judgemental way, to physically calm the mind and the body, and to spiritually center into one's own heart, as an antidote to the extreme intensity of working with the dying.

This meditation CD has no leaning toward any specific religion, but can be adapted to any faith that incorporates the belief in pure love and healing light.

Track 1 of this CD presents some factual information about why meditation is so important for a well-balanced lifestyle.
Track 2 is an introduction to meditation practice.
Track 3 is a healing meditation which builds from the introductory meditation on Track 2. It incorporates music, guided imagery and positive affirmations to deepen one's direct experience of self-care as an essential part of the lifestyle of all caregivers.

You may order this CD by regular mail or by using PayPal.
To order by mail, send $15.95 for each CD (postage is included) to:

Anne Milligan, LCSW
PO Box 22824
Louisville, KY 40252
(Please put "Into the Light CD" on subject line)

To order by PayPal, click the button below.

Anne Milligan leads a weekly group for professionals working with the dying. The group is held at the office of Anne Milligan in Louisville, Kentucky. This is a proactive self-care group for the following professionals:

• Oncologists
• Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses
• Social Workers
• Bereavement Counselors
• Pastoral Care Professionals

The goals of this group are the following:

• Provide a neutral, nurturing, therapeutic and confidential environment in which professionals will process personal issues and stressors related to care of the dying.
• Increase professionals' capacity to be present in an open, non-judgemental and compassionate way toward self and patients.
• Develop and nurture the ability to tolerate times of "not knowing" as would be normal in working with the psycho-biological-spiritual aspects of terminal illness
• Share ideas for health stress management for caregivers

The group takes place every Wednesday 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. at 3703 Taylorsville Rd. #206, Louisville, KY, 40220. First-time participants are asked to RSVP to Anne Milligan at 502-423-0220.