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Compassion Fatigue
The Stress of Caring- Too Much

What is Compassion Fatigue?		Self Test for CF

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What is Compassion Fatigue?
There is a cost to caring. Professionals who listen to the stories of fear, pain and suffering of others may feel similar fear, pain and suffering because they care. Professionals especially vulnerable to Compassion Fatigue (CF) include emergency care workers, counselors, mental health professionals, medical professionals, clergy, advocate volunteers, and human service workers. If you ever feel as though you are losing your sense of self to the clients you serve- you may be suffering from CF. The concept of Compassion Fatigue emerged only in the last several years in the professional literature. It represents the cost of caring about and for traumatized people. Compassion Fatigue is the emotional residue of exposure to working with the suffering, particularly those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. Professionals who work with people, particularly people who are suffering, must contend with not only the normal stress or dissatisfaction of work, but also with the emotional and personal feelings for the suffering. Compassion Fatigue is NOT "burnout". Burnout is associated with stress and hassles involved in your work; it is very cumulative, is relatively predictable and frequently a vacation or change of job helps a great deal. Compassion Fatigue is very different. Compassion Fatigue is a state of tension and preoccupation with the individual or cumulative trauma of clients as manifested in one or more ways including reexperiencing the traumatic event, avoidance/numbing of reminders of the event, and persistent arousal. Although similar to critical incident stress (being traumatized by something you actually experience or see),with CF you are absorbing the trauma through the eyes and ears of your clients. It can be thought of as secondary post-traumatic stress. There are human costs associated with CF. Job performance goes down, mistakes go up. Morale drops and personal relationships are affected- peoples home lives start to deteriorate, personality deteriorates and eventually it can lead to overall decline in general health. Return to CF Menu Take the CF Self-Test
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What is Compassion Fatigue?

There is a cost to caring.

Professionals who listen to the stories of fear, pain and suffering of others may feel similar fear, pain and suffering because they care. Professionals especially vulnerable to Compassion Fatigue (CF) include emergency care workers, counselors, mental health professionals, medical professionals, clergy, advocate volunteers, and human service workers. If you ever feel as though you are losing your sense of self to the clients you serve- you may be suffering from CF.

The concept of Compassion Fatigue emerged only in the last several years in the professional literature. It represents the cost of caring about and for traumatized people. Compassion Fatigue is the emotional residue of exposure to working with the suffering, particularly those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events. Professionals who work with people, particularly people who are suffering, must contend with not only the normal stress or dissatisfaction of work, but also with the emotional and personal feelings for the suffering.

Compassion Fatigue is NOT "burnout". Burnout is associated with stress and hassles involved in your work; it is very cumulative, is relatively predictable and frequently a vacation or change of job helps a great deal. Compassion Fatigue is very different. Compassion Fatigue is a state of tension and preoccupation with the individual or cumulative trauma of clients as manifested in one or more ways including reexperiencing the traumatic event, avoidance/numbing of reminders of the event, and persistent arousal. Although similar to critical incident stress (being traumatized by something you actually experience or see),with CF you are absorbing the trauma through the eyes and ears of your clients. It can be thought of as secondary post-traumatic stress.

There are human costs associated with CF. Job performance goes down, mistakes go up. Morale drops and personal relationships are affected- peoples home lives start to deteriorate, personality deteriorates and eventually it can lead to overall decline in general health.

Return to CF Menu

Take the CF Self-Test

This Site Designed and Maintained by
Visionary Productions, Inc.