Summary

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Caregivers are often passionate about their work. They empathize with others’ traumas and can often internalize stress. By identifying and managing signs of compassion fatigue, caregivers can maintain their own well-being while caring for others. Thank you for taking the time to view “Help for the Helper: Dealing with Compassion Fatigue.”

If caregivers can manage compassion fatigue, they can continue to support others.

Now that you’ve completed this lesson, you should be able to:

Define compassion fatigue;
Identify signs of compassion fatigue;
Recognize tools and techniques for self care to avoid burnout.

Consult these resources for more information on compassion fatigue.

The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, and Matthew McKay, offers simple, concise, step-by-step directions for mastery of a variety of stress-relieving techniques. It also provides information on exercise, nutrition, time management, and assertiveness.

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk, offers wisdom, practical ideas, information, and humor aimed at trauma workers.

The Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project offers more information about compassion fatigue and a free compassion satisfaction and fatigue scale that is widely used in the professional caregiving field.