Exclusive Caregiver Webinar “Empathy Fatigue: Self-Care When Life is Disrupted” with Ven. Barry Kerzin, M.D., and Buddhist Monk

Duet family caregiver services welcomes the Venerable Barry Kerzin, M.D., Buddhist Monk, and personal physician to the 14th Dalai Lama for an exclusive family caregiver event on Friday, April 14. Dr. Kerzin presents an educational webinar, “Empathy Fatigue: Self-Care When Life is Disrupted.”

This free-of-charge webinar is for you if you have been charged with caring for a loved one and your resilience is running low.

Let’s check in. For the past few years now, the path we’ve walked has not been easy. Post-pandemic life has witnessed a dramatic rise in stress-related diseases, loneliness and depression, drug overdose, economic pressures, violence to self and others, and a seemingly unending sense of global unrest.

Life has been stuck—determining what needs and concerns to attend to, and what to postpone, rearrange, or let go. Moments for personal reflection and introspection replaced with grief over loss of loved ones, jobs, or homes as we set our sights to mending, recapturing, and revitalizing.

Empathy fatigue is real! It is a natural offspring of our new world order. When full recovery requires our attention and patience not only with others (co-workers, friends, and family), but with ourselves as well, our resilience may be running low. And if we don’t attend to this, BURNOUT is just around the corner.

You are invited to join us for a rare opportunity to set our intentions toward self-care through the wisdom and counsel of Dr. Barry Kerzin. In this informative webinar, Dr. Kerzin will address the adverse impacts of empathy fatigue on our health and well-being and help us navigate how to holistically gain well-being amidst challenging times.

Dr. Kerzin is accompanied by Wayne Tormala, a friend and colleague of Barry, who also serves as an Advisory Board member of the Altruism in Medicine Institute. Many of us know Wayne from his former work in community action at the City of Phoenix, or more recently from his role as Bureau Chief at the Arizona Department of Health Services. Since retiring in 2021, Wayne has focused much of his work on addressing the impact of social isolation, loneliness, and compassion fatigue on the well-being of both the providers and consumers of social and healthcare services.

Dr. Barry Kerzin has lived in Dharamshala, India, since 1988 treating people in the local villages. Following his ordination as a monk in January 2003, Dr. Kerzin has been balancing his service to the Dalai Lama with traveling, teaching, and leading workshops in which he blends his Buddhist learnings and his medical training. He has served as a research participant in neuroscience research into the effects of meditation on the brain and is an adjunct professor at both the University of Hong Kong and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is founder and president of the Altruism in Medicine Institute and founder and chairman of the Human Values Institute in Japan.

To register for this webinar and receive the Zoom link, please click on the maroon button below.

For those family caregivers living in the metro Phoenix area, we are extending a special invitation for you to attend in-person and enjoy a complimentary continental breakfast starting at 10 a.m. in our Duet office (Mariposa Room), 10000 N. 31st Ave, Ste. D200, Phoenix, 85051. We have a few spots left! To attend in-person, please email your RSVP to Patty Fierro Mendez at fierro@duetaz.org or call (602) 274-5022 ext. 135.