Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, and Compassion Fatigue

Burnout amongst mental health professionals is commonly measured by Maslach's three-dimensional model which considers ways in which health professionals are subject to a number of work-related health impairments, including compassion fatigue, secondary traumatization, and vicarious traumatization (Canfield, 2005; Figley, 2002a, 2002b).

As defined by Masalch (1982, as cited in Masalch 2003), burnout includes three components:

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Emotional exhaustion

Depersonalization (loss of one's' empathy, caring, and compassion)

A decreased sense of accomplishment

All three constructs describe manifestations of emotional and physical exhaustion, however only vicarious trauma is specific to health professionals who work with trauma survivors. Previous research has outlined that health professionals who work with those suffering from PTSD have a higher risk of developing burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue.

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Secondary traumatic stress or vicarious trauma may arise when health professional’s emotional engagement with client’s traumatic material activates their own historic trauma or when stories of a client’s (or multiple clients) traumatic history create vicarious traumatization (Pearlman & Mac Ian, 1995).

Vicarious trauma is often connected to compassion fatigue as both relate to the health professional’s response to interacting with clients (Bride et al., 2007).

Video: Resisting ‘Burnout’ and ‘Vicarious Trauma’ Collective Care & Justice-Doing: The Zone of Fabulousness

9:38

Dr. Vikki Reynolds talks about health professional burnout and how vicarious trauma can manifest. She also describes the zone of fabulousness and how this relates to health professional self-care.

The term compassion fatigue, coined by Charles Figley, is defined as empathic strain and general exhaustion resulting from caring for people in distress (Bride et al., 2007). It can manifest without cumulative secondary trauma exposure and is not associated with cognitive disruptions.

Video: Compassion Fatigue: What is it and do you have it?

5:33

In this TED Talk, Juliette Watt provides a personal example of compassion fatigue and how it manifested in her life. Can you draw any parallels between this personal example of compassion fatigue and compassion fatigue in a clinical setting?

Did You Know?

Ketamine-assisted therapy is being investigated to treat burnout and PTSD in healthcare workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study demonstrated that there was a 59% reduction in PTSD symptoms, 58% reduction in depression symptoms, and 36% reduction in anxiety symptoms.

References

Bride, B. E., Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). Measuring Compassion Fatigue. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 155-163.

Canfield, J. (2005). Secondary Traumatization, Burnout, and Vicarious Traumatization. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 75(2), 81-101.

Figley, C. R. (2002a). Brief treatments for the traumatized: A project of the Green Cross Foundation. Greenwood Press/Greenwood Publishing Group.

Figley, C. R. (2002b). Treating compassion fatigue. Brunner-Routledge.

Maslach, C. (2003). Job Burnout:New Directions in Research and Intervention Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(5), 189-192.

Pearlman, L. A., & Mac Ian, P. S. (1995). Vicarious traumatization: An empirical study of the effects of trauma work on trauma therapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26(6), 558-565.

Robison, R., Brendle, M., Moore, C., Cross, H., Helm, L., Darling, S., Thayer, S., Thielking, P., & Shannon, S. (2023). Ketamine-Assisted Group Psychotherapy for Frontline Healthcare Workers with COVID-19-Related Burnout and PTSD: A Case Series of Effectiveness/Safety for 10 Participants. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 1–10. Advance online publication.