Finding Hope in Helping - A Course by Hope Made Strong

I remember those days when I would come home after a long day supporting and serving people and be faced with more problems.

My family, neighbours and friends; the needs never stopped.

My patience for my family and friends dwindled and I dove deeper into work.

"Maybe if I just work a little harder?"

The problem was that no matter how hard I strived or how much I sacrificed work became more complicated and more demanding.

I was becoming desensitized and almost jaded.

Maybe you can relate.

The fuse on my temper became shorter and shorter.

My work life began to blend into my home life and the problems and needs continued; it was death by a thousand paper cuts.

The weekly grind was wearing me down.

I often heard people's well intentioned advice that I needed to work out, eat better or develop boundaries.

But the time and energy just wasn’t there.

There was always something more urgent to attend to.

I crashed and the rebuilding caused me to do some incredible self-discovery and learning.

And here are some lies I destroyed in the process...

Finding Hope in Helping is an excellent resource for pastors and other helping professionals. Speaking as a trauma psychologist, I can attest to the soundness of the content - it is thoughtful, well-organized, clearly articulated, and firmly grounded in the research literature. Speaking as a pastor, I deeply appreciated how Laura readily integrates Scripture and faith throughout the conversation. If there is someone you know who is experiencing burnout or has witnessed or experienced some deeply troubling events, I believe they would benefit greatly by going through the steps of this course, along with Laura’s accompaniment and guidance.

Module 1: Introduction

Goal: Set the foundation and learn the differences between Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burnout.

• Workbook (downloadable or fillable online)

• One year access to live webinars every 6 weeks.

Module 2: Costs of Caring

Goal: Identifying the signs and symptoms, triggers and warning signs.

• Digital self-scoring

• Proqual Assessment

• Symptom checklist

• Identifying triggers and warning signs

• Green, yellow and red scale

Module 3: Taking Stock

Goal: Taking stock of your current circumstances and identifying what is working for you and what is a barrier.

• Activities chart

• Self-guided reflection questions

• Reflection questions to open discussion with spouse

• Contacts template for supportive relationships

• Reflection of strengths and calling

Module 4: Overcoming compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma

Goal: To build a toolbox of practical strategies that are proactive measures against compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.

• Creating intentional and manageable fitness plan

• Practical in-the-moment refocusing techniques

• Cheatsheet and basic meditation walkthrough

• Link to Christian self guided meditation app

• Professional development resource list

• Sleep debt test

• Links and references to self-discovery quizzes and assessments

• Chart identifying strong and weak boundaries

• Low impact debriefing model

I am a counsellor and project manager. I have been working as a registered social worker for 15 years and specialize in mental health, trauma and addictions.

By facing difficult stories and a community with never ending needs and tragedies, I personally experienced burnout and compassion fatigue.

Those were the most difficult 2 years of my life.

But what the devil meant to destroy God used for good.

God birthed the idea of bringing the message of hope and his strength to the church as faith leaders are in service to their congregations and communities every day facing similar tragic stories and needs.

Using strategies based on industry best practices and researched principles I build courses and workshops that support and strengthen ministry leaders to care and support others.