Breaking the taboo: eight Swedish clinical psychologists’ experiences of compassion fatigue

Figures & data

Figure 1. Compassion stress and fatigue model. Adapted from Figley (2002).

Table I. Participants.

Alias	Workplace	Years of experience	Interview duration
Annie	Children. Public sector.	16	70 min
Beatrice	Psychiatry/primary health care. Public sector	15	55 min
Cilla	Social service. Public sector	14	40 min
David	Chronically ill adults and children. Public sector.	11	90 min
Ester	Children. Public sector.	11	58 min
Fabian	Occupational health. Private sector.	13	72 min
Gabriel	Institutional care. Public sector.	12	57 min
Hanna	Primary health care. Public sector	15	69 min

Table II. Themes and sub-themes.

Mission impossible
	Logistical tangle		“I often have to contact different types of aid managers and assisting authorities, like social services and such. There is a lot of additional tasks surrounding what I do.”—David
	Quantity of patients, and high demands		”I definitely think that this huge influx of patients that we have in primary care, that it makes you … that it plays a part in the risk of becoming indifferent.”—Hanna
	Unsustainable framework		“I think it has to do with our participation in decision-making regarding our profession and how we practice, but these decisions are often made by politicians.”—Beatrice
Emotional strain
	Jesus complex		”(…) you can’t forget that you are a human being just like your patients, with fundamental needs that have to be fulfilled.”—Beatrice
	Forcing compassion		”(…) respect towards the patient that I had in front of me. That it was my duty to be interested, and to focus on that.”—Fabian
	Ethical stress		”We get to hear a lot, we observe huge needs, but we have very little capacity to help.”—Ester
	Difficult fates		“You get to hear a lot of things that affect your view of humanity. And not for the better.”—Fabian
Consequences
	Highway to burnout		“It’s connected to being burnt out, and not having any more energy. Compassion fatigue is a symptom of that”—Hanna
	Annoyance and categorical thinking		“I just can’t stand that commonplace bickering and whining”—Ester
	Numbness and isolation		“I don’t have the energy to sit there and feel”—Cilla
Interpersonal factors
	Collegial support		“We worked together as a team. There was always someone who knew sort of what I was doing, I was never alone in it.”—Annie
	Good/bad boss		“My first boss was a disaster. (…) She’s the reason I quit. She made every mistake in the book, which was a disaster for me personally.”—Gabriel
	Friends and family		“I have a stable family situation now, with a long-term partner and children. (…) My partner and I can vent to each other about work, and that’s good”—David
Shielding and Strengthening Factors
	Controlling circumstances		“It feels like the right thing to do, ethically, the humane thing to do. But if you look at how we are supposed to act, we are supposed to close cases quicker than we oftentimes do”—Cilla
	Professional development		“You need further education and supervision to learn and to develop. This is a strenuous job.”—Annie
	Self-care		“When I notice that I’m starting to lose it, I think “I need to recharge my batteries, but I also have to make sure that I keep my everyday life running”“—Gabriel
	Job satisfaction		“When what I do makes a difference. (…) It’s very satisfying when those hours I’ve spent working with this patient actually makes a tangible difference in that person’s life”—David

Figley, C. R. (2002). Compassion fatigue: Psychotherapist’s chronic lack of self care. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(11), 1433–1441. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10090

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