FROM COMPASSION FATIGUE TO COMPASSION SATISFACTION

This is my favorite passage in “Burnout and Self-Care in Social Work” by SaraKay Smullens.

 

— From Compassion Fatigue to Compassion Satisfaction Establishing Proper Boundaries.

One of the main themes of this book is that burnout, as represented here by the draining negativity of compassion fatigue, is first and foremost a matter of establishing successful boundaries between ourselves and our clients. Undoubtedly, social workers are guided by compassion for others and a desire to improve individual and societal conditions (Radey & Figley, 2007). It is meaningful, fulfilling, and uplifting to see our clients grow and change.

However, one of our challenges is to make sure that our primary motivation must be this growth and change, not an escape for difficulties we have known ourselves or witnessed our loved ones endure and perhaps be destroyed by — and not a desire to have control or power over others to make up for what has been denied us or those we love.

Without realizing it, many come into social work and related fields wanting to help others, needing to help others, but not primarily because of the client. As we have seen, many may be attracted to social work and related professions to escape from and compensate for their own pain or the pain of those they loved and needed, those who have let them down and disappointed them in myriad ways, sometimes callously and brutally.

*** A Self-Care Tip: Try the relaxing “BeKind Good Vibes Candles!”

Simply put, many may be attracted to social work or related professions to soothe their own agonizing or traumatic life events and in this way find peace in their own lives. Though not aware of it, people's choice of a profession devoted to mental health may be attractive due to an urgent desire to ease distress regarding events in their own lives that have not been dealt with and understood. This initial motivation is true for some of our most passionate and effective social workers, as well as those in related professions.

In facing this hard truth, one is able to make the necessary shift in professional direction by realizing that we can never heal through our clients. Once we can clearly distinguish between our needs and the needs of our clients, we can more fully appreciate how essential appropriate boundaries are in our lives and work and to the vital connection to compassion satisfaction.

We call on the strengths and power of our professional relationships, which are the keys to our effectiveness in building mutual respect and trust. Sometimes we are the very first people our clients will learn to trust. The success of our work is most evident when a professional relationship can conclude—when a client, couple, or family (and for some in our profession, an organization or board) recognizes it is time to move forward independently with the confidence to define direction and face inevitable stress and frustration.

With this achievement, we let go, ending our relationship—understanding and appreciating the success attained: A client’s journey forward is his, her, or their own; we no longer are necessary for survival, sustenance, or direction. Without appropriate boundaries this process will be seriously impaired, and exhaustion, negativity, and fatigue will make professional satisfaction impossible to achieve.

Respectful boundaries are understood and valued through our own hard-won self-awareness and the professional confidence and autonomy it makes possible. Through an appreciation of the relationship between appropriate boundaries and what I think of as an effective “letting go/ending process,” we understand that the term "helping professions" is perhaps a misleading one.

We use our knowledge and skill to work with our clients for one reason: so that they are able to help and care for themselves and, through this ability, find personal direction and fulfillment in love, friendship, and work.

An understanding of the words "pity' "sympathy,” and "empathy"— and their relationship to compassion satisfaction—is an effective way to conceptualize the difference between social workers who are motivated to escape their own feelings of pain and disappointments through their work and those who have learned to appreciate necessary boundaries for their work to be effective, for both their clients and themselves. (Please note: In the following discussion of pity, sympathy and empathy, I draw largely on the research and work of Karen Gerdes [2011]. The integration of empathy and compassion that is discussed and its relationship to the Self are based on my own experience.) …

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