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By Mark A. Stebnicki, PhD, LCMHC, CRC

I’ve sat in counseling with many clients whose lives have been shaped by natural and person-made disasters. They have been affected by combat exposure, illness, disability, trauma, grief and loss. Many of these client stories can contain themes so intense and horrific that they morph into chronic conditions of the mind, body and spirit. 

In some indigenous cultures, it is told that each time a medicine person heals someone, they give away a piece of themselves until eventually they also require healing. Counselors who are empathically attuned often take on the traumas experienced by their clients. Consequently, they may experience the professional fatigue syndrome I describe as “empathy fatigue.”

What Is Empathy Fatigue?

Overlooking Empathy Fatigue

• Excessive, recurrent and intense emotional arousal of an unhealthy nature that becomes unrecognized, ignored, undertreated and untreated.
• Rationalizing that we “don’t look professional” with our clients if we become distressed.
• Storing unhealthy thoughts, perceptions and emotions that become chronic and persistent worn neural pathways. This can negatively imprint on our cognitive unconscious and hinder our personal and professional growth of the mind, body and spirit.
• Not recognizing how cumulative stress can impact therapeutic encounters that may lead to the deterioration of our empathy, coping abilities, interpersonal communication skills and capacity to build empathy resilience. 

To understand the soul of empathy fatigue is to be mindful of the existential and spiritual impact that our clients’ extraordinary stressful and traumatic events have on us, and our ability to competently and ethically serve others. These issues cannot be addressed solely by talk therapies, a step-program or a self-help book. Thus, we should recognize, identify and implement a plan of self-care using available opportunities for optimal wellness.

Cultivating Empathy Resilience

Counselors who exhibit high empathy resilience often share the following traits:

• Communicating empathy genuinely and authentically.
• Possessing a constant state and trait of empathy to earn the circle of trust.
• Being approachable and respectful to unique cultural attributes.
• Empowering clients with optimal health and wellness resources.
• Feeling personal satisfaction and accomplishment that brings meaning to the work.
• Communicating positive optimism to clients.
• Having a deep, empathic concern for clients’ issues and recognizing the adverse impact this may have on the mind, body and spirit.
• Identifying their level of empathy fatigue and knowing how to reach out to personal and professional self-care resources.