Paula Delahunty

Addictions Coordinator - St. John's Region, Eastern Health

Paula Delahunty is the Addictions Coordinator for Eastern Health, St. John’s Region. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from  Memorial University of Newfoundland and is currently registered within the profession.   Additionally she holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Criminology Certificate and a Diploma in Clinical Counselling for Addictions from Memorial University. Ms. Delahunty has worked in the field of Addictions both directly and indirectly for approximately 25 years.

Over her career in the field of Mental Health and Addictions, she has worked with individuals, groups, families and couples and communities impacted by substance use harms and other behavioural adaptations.

As part of her role as Addictions Coordinator for the Eastern Regional Health Authority, she currently leads the Workforce Development program for the Mental Health and Addictions Program covering a wide variety of topics relevant to the provision of mental health and addictions services. 

10:25 - 11:25 am

May 12, 2023 May 12, 2023

Mental Health - Compassion Fatigue

Compassion Fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress (STS) is a condition characterized by a gradual lessening of compassion over time. Compassion fatigue can happen gradually or can occur quite quickly. Compassion stress and compassion fatigue are widely accepted occupational hazards in caring professions such as nursing, firefighting, social work, emergency medical response, policing and a wide variety of health and safety support roles. Compassion fatigue, what is it? What does it look like? How do we recognize the signs? How do we safeguard against it?