May is the month we honor nurses, and more so these past two years than ever before — deservedly so. While the pandemic gave the profession a spotlight, it was paradoxical; it garnered much-deserved praise, even as the profession also generated attention for its hardships — strained, over-worked, and under-appreciated nurses delivering service under profoundly difficult circumstances.

Members of the nursing profession, even in normal times, experience stresses that are unique to their calling. During the pandemic, they have been challenged to the hilt and stretched thin.  Is there – can there be – a blueprint for getting to the other side?

Today, we offer solutions from Dr. Martha Ramos Duffer, transforming traumatic stress into growth and well-being through care strategies.

 

Dr. Martha Ramos Duffer
 
Transforming Traumatic Stress into Growth and Well Being through Care Strategies

In light of the stresses and strains COVID 19 has put on healthcare workers, the term Posttraumatic Stress (PTS) has moved from its traditional positioning in relation to wartime or other terrifying events into the healthcare setting.  
 
People in service, health, and caring professions balance a myriad of roles and daunting demands in their work. Research and experience have proven that this breadth and depth of demands in the face of human suffering and tragedy can lead to burn-out, secondary trauma, and other forms of traumatic stress responses, and the stress responses affect them regardless of whether they are providing direct services or working in an administrative capacity.
 
On the other hand, have you heard about Post-traumatic Growth (PTG)? Most of us haven’t. Fortunately, researchers have identified practices that can contribute to transforming the challenges, demands, and traumatic stress we experience into growth-promoting and life-enriching experiences —post-traumatic growth.
 
With over two decades working in the field of psychology and supporting people and organizations through well-being coaching and trainings, Dr. Martha Ramos Duffer offers to take people on a journey to show them how to thrive and flourish in their work.
 
“We begin by learning to identify signs and symptoms of traumatic stress responses, including burn-out and secondary trauma, so that we can respond swiftly, effectively, and compassionately to ourselves and to each other,” she says in describing her approach to this work.

“From there, we explore evidenced-based strategies to prevent and treat these trauma responses and transform them into joy and well-being in our lives and in our work.
 
“We focus especially on fostering research-based resilience and sustaining ourselves and our work by accessing and nurturing the fire and passion that brought us into our work to begin with,” she continued.
 
In her program, Dr. Duffer divulges what recent findings in neuroscience have revealed about life balance and what practices support optimal functioning for our minds and brains.
 
“These include strategies that can make our work a source of healing, purpose, and inspiration; and identifying skills and practices correlated with healthy work cultures and generative working relationships with colleagues.”
 
Sound good? Importantly, she goes beyond talking about it; she takes the next step — identifying barriers and challenges to implementing self-care practices. She draws these from new research in the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics, which reveal how human motivation, choice, and willpower work.

She uses these new findings to equip people with proven strategies to build skills and habits that can help them consistently and successfully make choices that are aligned with their intentions and goals, and thereby to create lives that they love.   
 
Dr. Duffer’s enthusiasm for her work is palpable. Recently I sat in on a virtual presentation, and I was mesmerized by her excitement and dedication to this work. She delivered one of the best self-care presentations I have ever heard.
 
Dr. Duffer is a licensed clinical psychologist, motivational health and wellness speaker, trainer, coach, and consultant based in Austin, Texas.  She earned her doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Baylor University and has taught undergraduate and graduate psychology courses at several universities in Texas.
 
Bringing her expertise to your community, in person or virtually, could bring important benefits to your staff members as well as to your organization as a whole. To arrange for her to speak, give me a call at 503-699-5031 or email barbara@speakwellbeing.com
 
Until next time, please take care of yourself for your well being and those you love. 

Yours truly,

Barbara

For Your Well Being is published with the intention of bringing you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!

The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on health and wellness for all types of organizations that want to foster health and well being for their employees, members, clients, and in their communities.

We hand select our speakers, and they are not only experts in their fields; they inspire and motivate attendees. Our ultimate goal is to make a positive difference in their lives — a sense of well being, ease, and hope — and likely enjoy some laughter and levity along the way.

Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me great joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.