Life in a Residential Treatment Centre seems to go in phases For a time everything seems to be alright.... nothing too stressful, and then a period when , one stressful incident is on top of another. Crises in the lives and behaviours of the young people dont come in single file but as a whole battalion. I was always suspicious of the quiet times. If it lasted 10 days I suspected something was wrong!
It is in periods when all Hades breaks loose that child and youth care workers experience considerable stress and fatigue. Everything seems to happen at once, hours become long, day merges with night , and in those times one is surrounded constantly by painful, raw emotion and exposed nerves. Dealing with crisis after crisis without a break, we all know, can lead to burn-out. especially if the worker is trying to deal with personal problems at the same time.
So, we had a procedure we called " call and tell". If a child care worker was worried about their own well being, their level of stress, the idea was that they were to phone or call and tell management or their supervisor." I've been through an especially hard time, I'm not coping"
It was possible to arrange for the child care worker to be given a break of a few days.
One Monday morning, at a staff meeting, a child and youth care worker was reporting on her week when she " went off pop". Cried and shouted through her tears. The organisation sucks, we all are too busy in our own worlds ... it went on and on. The message was that she was having very hard time, was short of sleep and if another crisis was to occur she will break-down and need medical care.
" Why didn't you 'call and tell' ? we asked.
And then came her punch-line....I will never forget.
'This is supposed to be a caring place......... you notice the kids....why should I tell you or ask... you are supposed to notice ME.
I shouldn't have to tell, to ask, and I wont ask. You should have noticed ME.
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