Abstract
Background: Prolonged deficiency in self-care strategies puts counsellors and psychotherapists at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue.
Aim: To measure associations between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, well-being and burnout in student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists.
Method: A quantitative survey using four validated data collection instruments: (1) Professional Quality of Life Scale; (2) Self-Compassion Scale; (3) short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale; (4) Compassion For Others scale, was used to measure relationships between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, well-being and burnout. Participants: A mixed sample of student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists (n = 54) in their final year of study.
Results: This preliminary study shows that student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists who reported high on measures of self-compassion and well-being also reported less compassion fatigue and burnout. Implications for practice: Compassion fatigue and burnout are found in many modern-day, highly stressful healthcare professions. The practice of self-compassion could help student practitioners manage these symptoms and subsequently improve their professional quality of life.
Aim: To measure associations between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, well-being and burnout in student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists.
Method: A quantitative survey using four validated data collection instruments: (1) Professional Quality of Life Scale; (2) Self-Compassion Scale; (3) short Warwick and Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale; (4) Compassion For Others scale, was used to measure relationships between self-compassion, compassion fatigue, well-being and burnout. Participants: A mixed sample of student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists (n = 54) in their final year of study.
Results: This preliminary study shows that student counsellors and student cognitive behavioural psychotherapists who reported high on measures of self-compassion and well-being also reported less compassion fatigue and burnout. Implications for practice: Compassion fatigue and burnout are found in many modern-day, highly stressful healthcare professions. The practice of self-compassion could help student practitioners manage these symptoms and subsequently improve their professional quality of life.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15-23 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Counselling and Psychotherapy Research |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Burnout
- Cognitive behavioural psychotherapists
- Compassion fatigue
- Counsellors
- Self-compassion
- Well-being