Area Behavioral Health Care Providers to Host Mental Health Lecture
Texas Tech Physicians Psychiatry, Northwest Texas Healthcare System Behavioral Health and Texas Panhandle Centers will host the annual Hugh A. Pennal Lecture Series. This year’s lecture will be held on October 10 at 11:30 a.m. in the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Jerry H. Hodge School of Pharmacy Harrington Auditorium, located at 1300 South Coulter St. The event will feature a keynote address by Tami West, Ph.D., a stress and mental health expert. She will talk about compassion fatigue.
“What we do in healthcare is hard,” Amy Stark, MD, a Texas Tech Physicians psychiatrist said. “We see people on some of their worst days and hold spaces for their stories and struggles. Doing this work can put us at risk of developing compassion fatigue. We may end up taking on the suffering of others in a personal way. Not only can this impact our work, but it can impact our health, both physical and mental. Sometimes this is called secondary traumatic stress.”
Some symptoms of compassion fatigue include:
- Feeling overwhelmed and exhausted
- Reduced empathy and sensitivity
- Feelings of helplessness and powerlessness
- Intrusive imagery
- Change in worldview
- Insomnia
- Increased irritability
- Persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
West will teach attendees to recognize the early warning signs of compassion fatigue in themselves and their colleagues, enabling timely intervention to prevent burnout and maintain quality of care. Participants will be equipped with actionable, real-world strategies to manage and prevent compassion fatigue, focusing on personal well-being practices that can be integrated in daily routines to sustain long-term resilience. Participants will explore how to cultivate a workplace culture that prioritizes mental health and supports health care providers in addressing compassion fatigue, ensuring that the care team can continue to deliver high-quality services while maintaining their own well-being.
Attendance is free and lunch is included.
Hugh A. Pennal, MD, was a long-time Panhandle psychiatrist and regional chair of the TTUHSC Department of Psychiatry in Amarillo. An endowment was established after his death to support a lecture series that brings Amarillo healthcare providers together to present important behavioral health information to area providers and to the public.