Compassion Fatigue looks similar to burnout. It involves feeling exhausted and overwhelmed by our work, however the cause is different. With compassion fatigue, the care we show for others contributes to our symptoms. This can be upsetting for people in helping roles such as healthcare workers, leaders, lawyers, or anyone who works closely with others. We often pride ourselves on our ability to help others, so when we start to feel worn out and disinterested by our work, it can be very distressing.
In treating compassion fatigue, we identify where it is coming from and how it affects you. After that, we identify where you are at in your personal and professional life now. This helps to determine what values you have and clearly define goals for yourself. Sometimes the solution is switching roles, approach to roles, schedule, etc. Other times it is refocusing on your goals and what brought you into the role in the first place. Ultimately, the goal of treatment is to help you find joy at work and prevent it from negatively impacting the rest of your life.
Secondary Trauma
Secondary trauma is a contributor to compassion fatigue. This is caused when we see or hear stories of suffering from others. This affects many different roles, first responders, healthcare workers, accountants, anyone who works with others who are struggling. Even the most resilient among us is affected by others suffering. It also has a cumulative affect. What hasn’t affected you for 10 plus years might suddenly have an impact since the experiences have slowly been building up. When we experience secondary trauma, we usually notice by an anxiousness about work, a feeling that something bad is going to happen. This stress can cause exhaustion and withdrawal from work and home life activities.
We approach secondary trauma in a similar fashion to other traumas, which you can read more by clicking here. The main difference is creating an understanding for you that having this reaction does not mean you are failing in your chosen role, you’re just having a natural reaction to witnessing the suffering of others.
Burnout Prevention Therapy 