What Is Compassion Fatigue?
Photo by Marcelo Cidrack on Unsplash
Do you feel stuck in your private practice? Do you feel overwhelmed? Especially during 2020, I think many of us experienced burnout or compassion fatigue as we were navigating supporting our clients and navigating our own stressors.
According to Stamm (2010), compassion fatigue has two parts, including secondary trauma and burnout. Burnout is concerning the overwhelm of work and life and secondary trauma comes from the stressors connected with the content that therapists hear often. I go into a bit more about these definitions in my Diversify Income Workshop.
In my dissertation, I studied the unique stressors and coping strategies of counselors in private practice (Willey, 2023).
According to Stamm (2010), compassion fatigue has two parts, including secondary trauma and burnout. Burnout is concerning the overwhelm of work and life and secondary trauma comes from the stressors connected with the content that therapists hear often. I go into a bit more about these definitions in my Diversify Income Workshop.
In my dissertation, I studied the unique stressors and coping strategies of counselors in private practice (Willey, 2023).
Here you see the Group Experiential Themes (GET's) and subthemes from my Interpretative Phenomenological Study.
The first theme was I'm Overwhelmed on Every Side. Participants described multiple stressors such as stressors in their lives, stress from business, feeling exhausted and worrying about making mistakes (Willey, 2023).
The second theme was I Don't Know What to Do. Participants reported they saw that something was wrong, recognized their fear but were worried as they had been hurt in the past if they asked for help.
We recognized that there is stigma in asking for help and I get it. I have been there, but we still need to ask for help whether it is from consultation/coaching or therapy for ourselves. This leads to the final theme that participants did recognize I Can Heal in acknowledging self-compassionate words that It's Okay to Not Be Okay. They also spent time in self-reflection and self-care, and also experienced compassion satisfaction and grew from their experiences (Willey, 2023).
The first theme was I'm Overwhelmed on Every Side. Participants described multiple stressors such as stressors in their lives, stress from business, feeling exhausted and worrying about making mistakes (Willey, 2023).
The second theme was I Don't Know What to Do. Participants reported they saw that something was wrong, recognized their fear but were worried as they had been hurt in the past if they asked for help.
We recognized that there is stigma in asking for help and I get it. I have been there, but we still need to ask for help whether it is from consultation/coaching or therapy for ourselves. This leads to the final theme that participants did recognize I Can Heal in acknowledging self-compassionate words that It's Okay to Not Be Okay. They also spent time in self-reflection and self-care, and also experienced compassion satisfaction and grew from their experiences (Willey, 2023).
References
Stamm, B. H. (2010). The concise ProQOL manual (2nd ed.). ProQOL.org https://proqol.org/proqol-manual
Willey, B. M. (2023). Understanding the Experiences of Compassion Fatigue Among Counselors in Private Practice: A Phenomenological Approach. Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4446. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4446
Stamm, B. H. (2010). The concise ProQOL manual (2nd ed.). ProQOL.org https://proqol.org/proqol-manual
Willey, B. M. (2023). Understanding the Experiences of Compassion Fatigue Among Counselors in Private Practice: A Phenomenological Approach. Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4446. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4446
How Can We Help?
We can help you in three ways. If you are a helper who resides in FL and you need counseling, I can provide counseling for compassion fatigue or other stressors. I can also provide case consultation for complicated cases.
Or if you feel like it is more your business that is bringing stress, we could help you analyze and manage your business better to ultimately increase profit and reduce stress.
Counseling and case consultation is only provided for those residing in FL at this time due to licensure restrictions. If you are not sure which service you need, please email us and we can help you determine this.
Or if you feel like it is more your business that is bringing stress, we could help you analyze and manage your business better to ultimately increase profit and reduce stress.
Counseling and case consultation is only provided for those residing in FL at this time due to licensure restrictions. If you are not sure which service you need, please email us and we can help you determine this.
