Global Grief Network logoGGN Secondary Grief and Compassion Fatigue
Global Grief Network Education Center
Module 6 of 6

Practitioner and Team Takeaways

About 1 hour

If you or someone you know may be in danger right nowCall 988Text 988Immediate danger: call 911

988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States. It is free, confidential, and open 24/7 by call, text, or chat at 988lifeline.org. Veterans: dial 988 then press 1. Outside the US, use your local emergency number or crisis line. This program is education, not crisis care. If you are struggling as you read, please pause and reach out now.

Lessons in this module
  1. Notice, Name, Restore, Sustain
  2. Supportive team culture
  3. Your sustainability plan

Objectives

By the end of this module you will be able to:

Lesson

Notice, Name, Restore, Sustain

Notice early signs of strain in yourself and others. Name secondary grief and compassion fatigue without shame. Restore with practices and support. Sustain care with boundaries, rituals, and team culture.

Supportive team culture

Teams can normalize talking about the emotional impact of work, offer debriefs after hard events, share heavy cases, encourage breaks, and make support resources easy to reach.

Your sustainability plan

A personal plan includes your warning signs, your restoring practices, your boundaries, the people you can talk to, and crisis numbers such as 988 and 911.

1Notice2Name3Restore4Sustain
GGN reminder: Sustaining care is a team effort, and it starts with caring for the carers.
GGN practiceSustainability plan (about 15 minutes)

Write your plan using the five parts from this module: warning signs, restoring practices, boundaries, support people, and crisis numbers. Review it monthly. If this brings up pain, pause and reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988.

Fictional storyFictional Story 6.1: The team huddle

A school counseling team began a five minute huddle each Friday. Each person shares one hard moment and one good moment from the week. Team members say they feel less alone.

Questions to consider:

  1. Why does the huddle help?
  2. What could your team add?

Discussion: The huddle normalizes the emotional impact of the work and builds connection. Teams could add regular debriefs and shared resource lists.

Reflection Prompts

  1. How does your team talk about the emotional impact of work?
  2. What will go in your sustainability plan?
  3. Who supports you?

Module 6 Quiz

Choose one answer per question, then check your answers. You need 4 of 5 correct to pass, and every critical item must be correct. You can retake it any time.