Compassion fatigue among mental
health professionals: A survey design proposal
Compassion fatigue is
becoming a familiar term among practitioners as concerns about escalating
violence in this society rise and counsellors are called more and more to bear
witness to those suffering from victimisation.
The term (also, ‘combat fatigue’) has long been associated with combat
veterans’ re-experiencing the atrocities they witnessed and/or took an active
role in as part of their duties during wartime. Bearing witness to stories of
abuse and human and environmentally driven atrocities is a practitioner’s
primary role as clients attempt to unload many of the internal/external
experiences that interfere with their overall functioning. The inevitable, irrevocable, and unfortunate
drawback of bearing witness to such suffering is the phenomenon called
vicarious traumatisation – a subliminal attack on one’s previously held beliefs
and values which undermines one’s morale, sense of helpfulness, and general
well-being. Not attending to the
undercurrent of vicarious trauma inherent in any work involving human
suffering, a practitioner will likely begin suffering themselves from the same
secondary traumatic stress often associated with the pathological
manifestations frequently seen in the significant others of their clients.
