Edinburgh Napier University

  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, wellbeing 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.