Self-portraits of suffering caregivers

A portrait of a suffering caregiver emerges from the running of mediated therapeutic groups for hospitalized health care professionals. A humanist ideal or a family history marked by illness is often at the root of a professional choice. In the course of their work, caregivers find themselves caught between a desire for patient-oriented fulfilment and the need to protect themselves in the face of fragile or traumatic experiences. Setting limits is a difficult exercise. Physical and/or psychological exhaustion sets in. Asking for help and turning to care is no easy task for a carer. They will do so as late as possible. They have reached burnout. They wonder how they could have avoided it and whether they will continue to be a carer.