Earn 3 CEUs!*
Dr. Sunitha Chandy, Psy.D., a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Founder of Artesian Collaborative, has worked with diverse individuals and communities for over 20 years. She aims to equip people with skills to tap into their resources during painful and tense situations. Her commitment to community-based and systemic thinking has led her to bring skills beyond the therapy room into diverse environments, including Fortune 100 companies, Small Businesses, NGOs, Nonprofits, community organizations, hospital systems, and private practice. Her expertise in developmental psychology, trauma-informed care, cross-cultural engagement, and working with high-risk populations in her clinical work has equipped her to aid teams, even those with intense conflict, in reaching a place of shared understanding and engagement.
Sithara Stohr is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and licensed yoga and meditation instructor. They have experience in organizing and supporting restorative justice and social justice initiatives with a passion for bridging gaps in communication within communities in need of support. Throughout their career, they have had the opportunity to provide mental health services directly to a wide variety of communities. Their experiences have provided them with the needed facilitation skills to lead large group training events, small groups, and community-based interventions. Sithara utilizes a somatic-focused, strengths-based, and person-centered approach within all facets of their work. In a training or community setting, they excel at fostering safe spaces for teams to work through tension together. Their work focuses on creating connection and providing sustainable skills to maintain the work outside of sessions. They value community and believe that healing and growth often happen in these supported group spaces.
Mel Burbules, M.Ed, individual, couple and family therapist with Artesian Collaborative, believes in the power of authentic, collaborative relationships to foster personal growth. Drawing on her background as a professional opera singer, she helps clients connect with their true “voice.” Her work is grounded in Person-Centered Therapy, feminist theory, and advocacy, with a focus on anxiety, identity, trauma, and the impact of systemic injustice—especially for women of color and LGBTQIA+ clients. Melanie’s compassionate, curiosity-driven approach supports clients in aligning with their most authentic selves.
Description
Core Concepts
What is Compassion Fatigue
The concept of compassion fatigue and related terms such as chronic stress and vicarious trauma will be explored. Participants will complete a questionnaire to gauge their risk of compassion fatigue and burnout to help conceptualize the ways these issues arise for themselves and their teams.
The Impact of Trauma
Whether you experience trauma firsthand, witness it, or work with those affected, trauma disrupts lives and communities. We will explore how trauma disrupts people's lives from a physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, relational, and systems perspective to reduce judgment and stigma around the costs of caring. We’ll explore how working with those who have experienced trauma can lead to the vicarious experience of trauma.
Healing Power of Vulnerability
To heal our experiences, we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable internally and with our communities. We will explore the forms of vulnerability that lead to burnout and the ways to build self and community care to utilize vulnerability as a strength to support individual and team health.
Skills to Engage
Mindful Stewardship
Sometimes we actively disengage from painful things as a form of self-protection. Building awareness of the impact of trauma is part of your stewardship as well as maintaining a connection to hope and joy. Finding the balance between responding to pain and seeking joy is a core component of trauma stewardship and a mandatory aspect of sustainable trauma care work.
Community Care Skills
Our session closes with continued discussion on skills that address keeping these topics in our awareness and building a regular system to address their impact. We will share skills to lower distress and manage burnout for ourselves as well as how to continue to support others.
Key Takeaways
This training will give you an overview of the concepts of compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. The main takeaway will be how best to care for yourself while continuing to care for others.
Objectives:
1. Explore compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma, and how they manifest.
2. Recognize and assess the multidimensional impacts of trauma on individuals and those caring for them
3. Score your risk of compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout.
4. Evaluate how the dimensions of your identity impact your experience of vicarious trauma
5. Articulate how varying identity factors shape how we navigate and cope with the impact of trauma.
* This CE activity offered by Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family is approved by the Minnesota Board of Social Work as an approved CE Provider (approval valid through July 25, 2026).
This CE activity is pending CE approval with Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Board of Marriage and Family Therapy.
