Compassion Fatigue: When the Helping Professional Helps Too Much
Author: Meg Fansler
When one experiences trauma, some fortunate individuals have responded to the call to become a helping professionals and make overcoming trauma less isolating. The American Psychological Association defines trauma as reacting to an extreme event, like a natural disaster or assault. After enduring the traumatic experience, an individual may have to relay event details for several reasons. For example, they may seek professional help from a psychiatrist when they become overwhelmed with the aftershocks of the event, or they may have to report the event to law enforcement. Other professions frequently interacting with individuals who have experienced traumatic events include teachers, social workers, ministers, and medical professionals. Because of the consistent interaction with these individuals, the effects of the trauma may be transferred to these helping professionals, and this repeated exposure increases the risk of compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue is stress caused by constant interaction with those who have experienced trauma or are undergoing significant emotional distress. It is also known as second-hand shock or secondary stress reaction. These helping professionals may experience a secondary type of trauma, resulting in invasive effects. Similar symptoms are also common with another type of stress called burnout. Still, the difference between compassion fatigue and burnout is that burnout results from accumulated stressors, such as increasing work or life stressors, poor organizational practices, and unsupportive relationships with supervisors and coworkers. Compassion fatigue is solely related to trauma and can occur from one instance or an accumulation of dealing with traumatic cases. Unlike burnout, compassion fatigue is highly treatable, and the onset can be sudden, whereas burnout usually emerges over time.
In general, compassion fatigue is characterized by emotional exhaustion and isolation. The American Institute of Stress lists specific symptoms that could indicate that one is experiencing compassion fatigue. Some symptoms include disruptions in sleep, concentration problems, impaired behavior and judgment, dreading work, chronic lateness, frequent headaches, hopelessness, weight loss, and extreme despair. The Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project adds to this list, identifying excessive blaming, keeping emotions to oneself, preoccupation, poor hygiene or appearance, and compulsive behaviors, including substance abuse. It might be useful to know that self-administered assessment can help determine if they could be at risk of developing compassion fatigue. The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) determines one’s current level of Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue and how all three constructs are intertwined. The Empath Test assesses if one is at high risk of becoming deeply connected with their work as a helping professional. With an understanding of one’s risk, one can be vigilant in watching for the exhibition of symptoms of compassion fatigue.
The healing process can begin after identifying that one has fallen into compassion fatigue. Some tips for healing include finding a community of others who can relate to and validate your experience, telling others what you need, taking breaks to decompress after a session with a traumatized individual, having a transition from work to home, finding time for yourself every day to rebalance yourself, and exercise. Above all, understand that the pain you feel is normal. Sometimes, the helping professional may need to seek their own professional help. These helping professionals must understand that they cannot solve every client’s problems. They also must prioritize themselves and their well-being. When we rely on these professionals for our healing, we must ensure our helping professionals are cared for first to provide the best care possible.
Ashleigh Diserio Consulting works with individuals and organizations, assisting them in gleaning insight into a person’s life, motivation, and past and future behavior, so certain areas of behavior can be understood with a high degree of accuracy. We provide services in the areas of criminal and intelligence investigations, management support, threat assessment, insider threat support, and education and training.