When Professionals Weep

by Renée S. Katz (Editor), Therese G. Johnson (Editor)

When Professionals Weep speaks to the humbling and often transformational moments that clinicians experience in their careers as caregivers and healers moments when it is often hard to separate the influence of our own emotional responses and worldviews from the patient s or family s. "When Professionals" "Weep" addresses these poignant moments when the professional's personal experiences with trauma, illness, death, and loss can subtly, often stealthily, surface and affect the helping process. This edition, like the first, both validates clinicians experiences and also helps them process and productively address compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. New material in the second edition includes increased emphasis on the burgeoning fields of hospice and palliative care, organizational countertransference, mindfulness, and compassionate practice. It includes thought-provoking cases, self-assessments, and exercises that can be used on an individual, dyadic, or group basis. This volume is an invaluable handbook for practitioners in the fields of medicine, mental health, social work, nursing, chaplaincy, the allied health sciences, psychology, and psychiatry."

262 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Melanie]

This book is full of insightful perspectives written by cross-discipline professionals who are involved with caring for end-of-life patients. It covers a spectrum of topics, such as assisted suicide and cultural differences that impact care, and provides a raw, honest look (through personal stories and insights) at the role countertransference plays from both professional to patient and patient to professional.

I recommend this book to anyone brave enough to explore how personal experiences, beliefs and feelings can either positively or negatively affect care for patients, and how patient care can challenge professionals' boundaries, emotions and belief systems.

This book is beneficial, possibly even indispensable, for a deeper, practical understanding of self and other in patient care.