Introduction:Helping professionals are at high risk of being affected by the negative aspects of helping such as compassion fatigue. To date, no study has provided a comprehensive overview of compassion fatigue and compared the prevalence among different helping professions. Objectives:The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and differences in compassion fatigue among different helping professions. We also wanted to explore the relationship between compassion, self-compassion, self-criticism and compassion fatigue.Methods: Six hundred and seven participants working in the helping professions were recruited. The sample consisted of 102 nurses, 44 doctors, 57 paramedics, 39 home nurses, 66 teachers, 103 psychologists, 40 psychotherapists and coaches, 76 social workers, 39 priests and pastors and 41 police officers. The data were collected using an online questionnaire battery measuring levels of compassion, self-compassion, self-criticism, compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Results:We found significant differences in compassion fatigue levels among various helping professions. No large differences were found in the compassion and selfcompassion levels exhibited by professionals with medium versus low compassion fatigue scores. However, participants with higher levels of compassion fatigue scored higher in self-criticism. Self-criticism was found to be the best predictor of compassion fatigue. The effect of profession on compassion fatigue as mediated by self-criticism and self-compassion was significant. Conclusions:Based on the results, we recommend designing programs to combat compassion fatigue that teach helping professionals to better manage their work time and workload (hours per week with clients/patients) and learn healthier inner talk (less self-critical and more self-compassionate).

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IntroductionThe aim of this study was to examine the short- and long-term effectiveness of the novel Emotion-focused Training for Helping Professions on levels of compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress & burnout), self-criticism, self-compassion, and compassion for others.MethodsA randomized controlled trial study was conducted. A total of 253 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group attended a 14-day online training. The control group did not perform any tasks.ResultsResults showed that after completing the intervention the experimental group participants reported significantly lower scores for secondary traumatic stress, burnout and self-criticism, and higher scores for self-compassion and that these lasted for two months after completion. Compared to the control group, the experimental group participants had significantly lower scores of secondary traumatic stress, burnout, self-criticism, and higher scores of self-compassion after the intervention. No significant changes were found for the control group, except a significant increase in time in the reported score for one dimension of burnout – exhaustion.DiscussionThe novel EFT-HP training was shown to be effective in reducing levels of compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress and burnout) and self-criticism and increasing self-compassion.

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