Compassion Fatigue, Compassion Satisfaction, and Burnout

Summary

Over the past several decades the mental health field has become increasingly concerned about potential negative effects in professionals of providing crisis intervention and traumatic stress services to individuals and groups. The employee assistance (EA) field has not received adequate attention with regard to the study of these negative effects, such as compassion fatigue. This paper highlights results from a national research study of members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) who were assessed for risk for compassion fatigue and burnout, as well as potential for compassion satisfaction. Additionally, coping methods for dealing with work-related stress resulting from the provision of workplace crisis intervention services were measured. Findings indicate that EA professionals who provide clinical services and/or crisis intervention services in the workplace are at low risk for burnout, moderate risk for compassion fatigue, and have high potential for compassion satisfaction. Implications for the EA field, in terms of training and practice, are discussed.

Key Words:

• Employee assistance
• crisis intervention
• compassion fatigue
• compassion satisfaction
• burnout
• coping