Caregiver Burnout Workshop Available from the Sorenson Center at USU

In March, clinicians at the Sorenson Center, a community-facing clinical services facility located on USU’s Logan campus, are hosting two free workshops to support caregivers who suffer from burnout.

An in-person workshop will be at 6 p.m. March 4 in Room 209 of the Sorenson Center. For individuals who can’t attend in person, a virtual workshop will be at 6 p.m. March 6. Members of the community are encouraged to attend either workshop. Visit the Sorenson Center’s website for more information and to enroll.

The Caregiver Burnout workshop is geared toward full-time and long-term caregivers who serve people with limitations due to age, illness, injury or disability. This includes those who are caring for elderly people as well as parents caring for disabled children. The focus of the workshop is to provide coping skills and resources, with an additional emphasis on facilitating interaction between caregivers. The workshop will last less than two hours.

Rebecca Thornley, graduate student in the social work program at Utah State University, has seen caregiver burnout firsthand while assisting in the Dementia Caregiver Clinic at the Sorenson Center.

“We have noticed how prevalent burnout is for those providing services for their loved ones and family members,” Thornley said. “We hope this seminar can be a resource for those who experience these challenges so they can learn some coping skills to reduce the impact of the caretaking role.”

Symptoms of burnout may include physical exhaustion, a change in physical wellness such as headaches or stomachaches, or a decreased interest in hobbies. A person may also be irritable or impatient with the person they’re caring for, or they may have feelings of emptiness and hopelessness.

The workshop is designed to provide caregivers with resources that will strengthen them. Caregivers will create a self-care plan with specific elements that include physical, social, spiritual, emotional and intellectual action items.

“When people have a name for what they’re feeling, it means they can respond to it,” said Dallas Spencer, a licensed clinical social worker and clinician at the Sorenson Center who will supervise the workshop. “It makes them feel empowered to set a boundary or do something that adds to their emotional reservoir, because so much is being drawn from it. The goal of the seminar is to increase understanding of caregiver burnout and its symptoms, and to provide support and education on how to lessen burnout through self-care and community. We are hoping people leave with a self-care plan and a new friend or two.”

Note: The Sorenson Center parking lot on the USU campus is open to the public after 5 p.m.