Compassion Fatigue
Compassion Fatigue: A Practical Guide for School and Community Chaplains
Highlights: Working as a school and community chaplain is a rewarding role. As a supportive professional, these roles often are called upon in times of extreme stress, loss, medical concerns, and trauma. School and community chaplains can also experience compassion fatigue due to their role in providing emotional and spiritual support to students, staff, family members and the wider community. It is essential to recognize the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and take steps to prevent and manage it. Prevention includes strategies such as self-care and self-compassion.
Working as a school and community chaplain is a rewarding role. As a caring professional it enables us to journey alongside others in triumphs and challenges. As a supportive professional, these roles often are called upon in times of extreme stress, loss, medical concerns, and trauma. Walking alongside people through life’s hardest and toughest moments can be emotionally draining and when can also lead to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is a well-documented phenomenon that can occur in individuals who work in high-stress professions, such as chaplaincy, healthcare, social work, and counselling. School and community chaplains can also experience compassion fatigue due to their role in providing emotional and spiritual support to students, staff, family members and the wider community. It is essential to recognize the signs and symptoms of compassion fatigue and take steps to prevent and manage it.
Symptoms of compassion fatigue in chaplains can include emotional exhaustion, reduced empathy, a sense of detachment, and secondary traumatic stress. Compassion fatigue can also lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems, and chronic pain. Chaplains who experience compassion fatigue may also feel a sense of hopelessness or helplessness about their ability to make a difference in the lives of the people they serve, and they may experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, or burnout.
To prevent and address compassion fatigue, chaplains can take several steps. Firstly, self-care is important, which means taking time to rest, relax, and engage in activities that bring joy and fulfilment. Secondly, self-compassion is needed when we extend compassion to ourselves in instances of perceived inadequacy, failure, or general suffering. To practice self-compassion, recognize when you're experiencing suffering or difficulty and acknowledge that it's a normal part of the human experience. Respond to your suffering with kindness, by speaking to yourself in a caring and understanding way. Remember that suffering is a shared experience and recognize that other chaplains may be experiencing similar challenges or may experience secondary traumatic stress.
Research conducted by J.T. Hotchkiss and R. Lesher, on secondary trauma in chaplains, was found that supportive structure, mindful self-awareness, and self-compassion and purpose are some of the strongest protective factors. Chaplains who engage in multiple and frequent self-care strategies experience higher professional quality of life and lower burnout risk.
Chaplains can also benefit from participating in regular debriefing sessions with colleagues or other professionals to discuss the challenges they face and share strategies for coping. Compassion fatigue may challenge a person’s sense of ‘calling’ and how they perceive living out the will of God to help and serve others. These spiritual conversations and challenges can be discussed with a mentor, spiritual advisor or pastor.
In addition, schools and organisations that work with chaplains can provide support and resources for chaplains to help them manage the demands of their work. This can include access to counselling services, training in stress management and self-care, and opportunities for professional development and growth. Chaplains can also adopt practices that promote resilience and prevent compassion fatigue. This can include developing a regular meditation or mindfulness practice, practising gratitude, and engaging in activities that promote positive emotions and a sense of connection with others.
By incorporating these self-care and resilience-building strategies into your work as a chaplain, you can prevent and manage compassion fatigue. Developing a self-care plan can help identify activities that bring you joy and help you recharge. This may include engaging in hobbies or activities you enjoy, spending time with loved ones, or taking time for yourself to relax and unwind. Assessing self-care activities in light of your values, what you love, what you hold dear and what you enjoy will assist you in finding strategies that suit you.
In conclusion, compassion fatigue is a common experience for chaplains who work in emotionally demanding roles. By taking steps to prevent and address compassion fatigue, chaplains can continue to provide the important emotional and spiritual support that students, staff, families and communities need to thrive.
References:
J.T. Hotchkiss & R. Lesher, “Factors Predicting Burnout Among Chaplains: Compassion Satisfaction, Organizational Factors, and the Mediators of Mindful Self-Care and Secondary Traumatic Stress” Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 2018, Vol. 72(2) 86–98.
Dr K. Neff https://self-compassion.org/category/blog-articles/
L. White, “Holistic Care of Others and Self” Module 3, Korus Connect and Whole People, 2023.
