Compassion Fatigue

When is it time to get help?

If you are experiencing the symptoms of compassion fatigue, you work in a field that involves caring for people in crisis, there is a high level of burnout or compassion fatigue amongst your colleagues, and you find it harder and harder to go into work or to go about your day – then it’s time to seek support. Left untreated and without change, compassion fatigue can lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD, and even make you more susceptible to suicidal thoughts. The most important thing to remember is that suffering from compassion fatigue does not make you a bad person. It does, however, mean that you should seek treatment.

Compassion fatigue treatment methods

There are several therapies that have been shown to be effective in treating compassion fatigue. Your therapist will talk with you to determine the best option for you and your individual needs. Common treatments include:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based approach to treatment that focuses on how people’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs influence their behaviour and how they perceive themselves.
• Grief work therapy refers to the methods used in counselling that help people to grieve loss and understand their emotions associated with the loss in a healthy way, with the ultimate goal of moving forward.
• Eye movement desensitization reprocessing therapy (EMDR) is defined by EMDR Canada as an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma and many other mental health problems that utilized bilateral eye stimulation or somatic responding.
• Existential therapy is focused on providing the client with a greater understanding of themselves including self-development and self-awareness. This therapy works on the individual’s unique set of choices and the meaning behind them, making them aware they can’t blame their decisions and the repercussions entirely on past conditioning and/or genetics.
• Person centered therapy differs from more traditional therapeutic approaches in the belief that, while the therapist has expertise in many areas, the client is the expert on themselves and their lived experiences. People are essentially trustworthy and have a vast potential for understanding themselves while also being able to ultimately resolve their own problems when guided properly.