STORYTIME 💜
Once upon a time, I was a teacher. (well I still am….but I digress…)
I was determined to be the kind of teacher that I needed when I was a teenager—a caring adult that created a safe place, listened, and didn’t judge.
Long hours and unrealistic expectations (both self-imposed and those from a flawed educational system) soon had me feeling the effects of burnout. Trying to be everything that my students needed had me struggling.
Not long into my journey along that road, I realized that I was unable to “leave the job at the job”. I began to lose sleep and constantly worry about many of my students. I would get extremely anxious during the evening news broadcasts any time they made mention of a “teen”. I just KNEW that it was going to be one of mine. I took on their traumas and absorbed each and every one.
Not just Burnout
At the time, I didn’t have a name for what I was feeling…
Then I began to learn about secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue in educators. It was an eye-opening experience. I saw the effects of it– not only in myself but also in some of my fellow teachers.
I knew I needed a change.
I left the classroom feeling guilty for “abandoning” my students and feeling broken because I wasn’t able to keep going at that rate–physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
I eventually found healing and wrote a solo show about my process.
Educational Consulting
But I wanted to do something to help my friends and other educators who were still struggling.
So I paired my background in theatre with my many years in education, a certification in mindfulness and Social-emotional wellness, and my experiences as a facilitator for Kaiser Permanente’s Resilience in Schools program and began creating programming to help teachers cope and to increase student resilience and engagement. To date, Sculpted Clay Productions has impacted thousands of teachers…and countless students. But my work is far from done!
If you are feeling the effects of burnout or even secondary traumatic stress or compassion fatigue, know that you aren’t alone. You can recover. I’m rooting for you.
And if you need a hand in finding the JOY in teaching and your life again, check this out… it worked for me and other teachers like you!
