Beating Exhaustion and Job Stress
"Burnout Summit” Gives California’s Child Welfare Staff and Leaders Strategies to Cope and Recalibrate
Over the past two years, human services professionals have gone from experiencing pandemic stress, to pandemic fatigue, to finding a “new normal” as they regain their footing in daily work life. On May 24, 2022, the Northern Academy at UC Davis Human Services hosted a free, full-day virtual event devoted to discussing the challenges of work and life stresses and how to find workable solutions to mitigate this stress.
The Burnout Summit for Child Welfare was open to anyone working in the child welfare profession in California: social workers, support staff, supervisors, managers, directors and other child welfare staff. The more than 200 attendees learned strategies to manage burnout, stress and exhaustion for themselves and their colleagues, and got “recalibrated” to continue doing the important work they do everyday to support children and families.
The event featured nationally recognized keynote speakers:
- Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, founder and director of the Trauma Stewardship Institute and author of Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others and The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul.
- Jennifer Moss, journalist, international speaker, strategist and author of the bestselling book The Burnout Epidemic
- Beth Cohen, clinical and organizational psychologist, and author of Workaches: The Neuroscience Guide to Surviving and Thriving at Work.
- Neesha Patel, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior-certified mindfulness facilitator.
Learn more about the keynotes and their presentations here.
What Participants Shared Afterward
By the end of the day, attendees felt reinvigorated and more prepared to not just survive, but to thrive. Here are a few of the comments shared by participants:
"Meet the stress with care.’ I love that! Our bodies are so fragile when we're stressed. Thank you for this important reminder!” — Joycelyn Wormley
“THIS TRAINING WAS AMAZING!” — Anacani Rocha
“Every speaker was awesome. Very informative information that is also applicable. Thank you!” — Juviya McDonald
“I am leaving with so many take aways. This has been a great training.” — Diadra Smith
“This was great information today and reminders of how we can take care of ourselves.” — Donna Wilson
Resources to Address Burnout and Vicarious Trauma
To replace the physical “goody bag” that usually comes with in-person conferences and events, the Northern Academy provided attendees the virtual equivalent. For those who were not able to attend, the Academy has put together a document containing resources curated for audiences interested in self-care and well-being for child welfare professionals.