Compassion Fatigue

by Charles R. Figley

Compassion Fatigue focuses on those individuals who provide therapy to victims of PTSD - crisis and trauma counselors, Red Cross workers, nurses, doctors, and other caregivers who themselves often become victim to secondary traumatic stress disorder (STSD) or "compassion fatigue" as a result of helping or wanting to help a traumatized person. Edited by Charles R. Figley, a renowned pioneer in the field of traumatic stress studies, this book consists of eleven chapters, each written by a different specialist in the field. It addresses such questions as: What are compassion stress and compassion fatigue? What are the unintended, and often unexpected, deleterious effects of providing help to traumatized people? What are some examples of cases in which individuals were traumatized by helping, and how were they traumatized? What are the characteristics of the traumatized caregiver (e.g., race, gender, ethnicity, age, interpersonal competence, experience with psychological trauma) that account for the development, sustenance, preventability, and treatability of secondary traumatization? Is there a way to theoretically account for all these factors? What are the characteristics of effective programs to prevent or ameliorate compassion stress and its unwanted consequences?

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Psychology, Mental Health

292 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 2006

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. Up until now, I thought that "compassion fatigue" and "burnout" were the same thing. However, burnout is more broad and encompasses a lot more physically. Compassion fatigue is more focused on feeling worn out emotionally, spiritually and mentally because you're not only dealing with trying to care for animals but also the people that are a part of their world. The focus is on the environments of shelter/rescue and veterinary care.

I work for a veterinary specialty practice, volunteer for a no-kill shelter and I enjoy both. I don't think I could ever have it the other way around because animal welfare would take a very high toll on me after a while. Dealing with the general public is frustrating and stressful. I don't currently suffer from compassion fatigue but I think I would if I wasn't in nursing care.

The book tells you what it is you're dealing with and advice on how to cope (meditation and such). The best way I have found is trying to have a complete "me" day once a week and it's helped a lot. Basically you need to find something to do outside of these environments that gives you a lot of personal fulfillment and variety to your life.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent foundation on Secondary Traumatic Stress (Vicarious Trauma, Secondary Trauma). I read this book as a part of the research for my Master's degree as an educator and found that the insights were very transferrable into my field of education. My criticism of the volume as a whole is that each chapter seems to re-iterate the same points that STS (VT) exists and we need to do something about it.

Worth the read for any helping professionals.

[Sara Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I work in an emergency veterinary office, and I see some intense stuff come through the doors. While I will say that for me, a lot of the self-care tips were things I already have in my self-care toolbox, I think this book is an invaluable resource for folks in the animal care community. It’s so easy to forget about yourself when you’re so focused on providing care for animals; this book gave pointers to identify compassion fatigue and how to nip it in the bud. I’m really happy I read it, as it’s already helped give me some perspective.