Compassion Fatigue

The psychological and emotional demands placed on the practitioner have never been more intense, clinicians and researchers agree. Psychologists are expected to have the broadest of shoulders, absorbing without complaint the suffering and anxiety of their clients. But who takes care of the caretaker when the stress of a clinical case load becomes too great to bear alone? Psychologists should look to their own profession for help, practitioners say, but pride and concerns about confidentiality often stand in the way. In recent years, psychologists have suffered increased stress from the demands of the changing health-care environment, said Daniel Abrahamson, PhD, a clinical psychologist and co-founder of the Traumatic Stress Institute/Center for Adult and Adolescent Psychotherapy, or TSI/CAAP, in South Windsor, Conn. Managed-care organizations and other insurance providers require therapists to document their work with each patient in excruciating detail. That leaves providers feeling they must risk breaking a patient's confidentiality to collect reimbursement, Abrahamson said.

But psychotherapy has always been challenging, even...

Additional Resource: Compassion fatigue: when listening hurts (2810 downloads )