Episode 11 | The Power of Empathy for End-of-Life Workers

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Episode Notes

In this episode of Buried in Work, host Adam Zuckerman welcomes Erin Whalen, founder of Compassionate Coaching, a company dedicated to providing communication tools and emotional support to end-of-life professionals. Erin shares her inspiring journey, from starting as a general life coach during the pandemic to focusing her work on supporting hospice, palliative care, and grief professionals. She highlights the vital role empathy plays in dealing with the grieving and the dying, and how crucial communication skills can make a profound impact on the quality of care provided.

Key Topics

Discover how Erin transitioned from a career in acting to launching Compassionate Coaching, specifically serving end-of-life workers.

Erin emphasizes the importance of “head moments” vs. “heart moments” when breaking difficult news to patients and how professionals should balance logic with emotional support.

Learn about the unique use of actors in medical schools to help train future physicians in empathetic communication, particularly in end-of-life scenarios.

Erin explains how her role-playing exercises and playback theater techniques help end-of-life professionals practice difficult conversations and improve their connection with patients and families.

Erin offers practical tips for those experiencing burnout in emotionally taxing fields like hospice and palliative care, including the importance of deep breathing, connecting with colleagues, and finding a support system.

Whether you’re facing the daily challenges of working in hospice care, palliative care, or grief counseling, or you’re supporting a loved one through end-of-life transitions, empathy is your most powerful tool. This episode delves deep into practical communication strategies that will help you connect more meaningfully with patients and families, while also maintaining your own emotional health. Erin Whalen shares expert advice on how to stay grounded, prevent burnout, and truly make a difference in the lives of those you care for.

Show links

• Find more about Erin’s work and explore free resources like the Burnout Barometer and Transition Routine for end-of-life workers on her website: www.compassionatecoaching.org.
• Connect with Erin on LinkedIn: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-whalen-compassionate-coaching/

About Erin Whalen

Erin spent 14 years as a professional actress and role player, particularly in medical education, before founding Compassionate Coaching in the fall of 2020. She uses her background as an actor, trainer, and facilitator to develop highly engaging programming that centers around giving and receiving empathy.

She feels called to fill the cups of bereavement and end-of-life professionals so that they can continue the beautiful work that they are doing in support of the grieving and the dying.

Erin uses her own experiences with grief, particularly her sister’s death in 2016 and her lifelong relationship with anticipatory grief, to infuse her work with empathy and compassion.

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