Human Service Council announces Wellness Day
The fourth annual Autumn Professional Wellness Day for frontline workers of Fayette County’s human service agencies will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Summit Inn Resort in Wharton Township. The event is intended to enhance the professional and personal qualities of frontline workers.
Anyone in Fayette County working for a human service agency or any other organization may register for a day of professional and personal development.
The event is designed to bolster workers’ spirits and inspire them in the difficult tasks they face every day, a spokesman for the council said.
“This is a wonderful experience, both professionally and personally,” said Tammy Knouse, chairwoman of the Fayette County Human Service Council and participant of the annual Professional Development Day.
Knouse added that the workshops can benefit people by reducing stress and helping with burnout.
The workshop for the day entitled “The Care-Giving Personality: Feeling Too Little, Feeling Too Much” will be presented by Chatman Neely, ACSW, LCSW, senior lecturer, West Virginia University.
His workshop will address the following areas. Family workers are unique and often extraordinary people. They are often challenged on emotional, intellectual and relational levels. They often experience emotional pain as a result of feeling too much or feeling too little. Many wrestle to maintain healthy boundaries with self and others.
Recent research suggests that family workers, as a group, have several attributes in common. Understanding the care-giving personality is crucial to understanding burnout, compassion, fatigue and trauma. The more empathically aware workers become may also make them more vulnerable to compassion fatigue.
A model for understanding family workers’ vulnerabilities and techniques to deal with these issues will be presented. Understanding a family worker’s gifts and unique attributes can assist them in finding mindful ways to avoiding burnout.
There is a fee to attend the event.
Currently more than 100 frontline workers participate in events sponsored by the council every year. For more information or to register for the event, call 724-425-1818 or go online at www.fayettehumanservicecouncil.org. Registration should be made no later than Friday to insure a place.