I Scoured Reddit So You Don’t Have To: Therapist Compassion Fatigue & Burnout
This April is National Counseling Awareness Month, and I’ve been thinking a lot about therapist burnout and compassion fatigue. I wondered as a new therapist if I was truly qualified to speak on these topics, and through my research I was surprised to find that there is a correlation between burnout and time spent in the field (Van Hoy & Rzeszutek, 2022). Younger therapists tend to burnout more quickly than their seasoned counterparts, partially due to the trial and error of finding your rhythm at work and identifying a personal self-care routine. Other factors that may influence a clinician’s inclination to burnout can be their own trauma history, work-life balance, an extensive caseload, population intensity, paperwork and insurance hurdles, low income, and navigating licensure (Brown, 2025 & Barron, 2023).
It’s tough to navigate these factors, and it’s likely that your situation won’t change overnight. So how should we as therapists take the first steps in addressing burnout? Brown suggests that two factors that greatly combat compassion fatigue and burnout- social support and self-compassion (2025.)
I can personally attest that both social support and self-compassion have been game changers for me as I grow into being a therapist. Practicum and supervision at my internship sights helped provide me with practical tools and insight into what reasonable expectations for myself should be! It’s an ongoing practice, and should be throughout my tenure as a therapist, because human beings are meant to be villagers after all.
If I was to add another element to Brown’s burnout cure recipe, I’d also include firm boundaries. The single best piece of advice I received as a graduate student was from my supervisor at Children’s Hospital. We were discussing that the art therapy team implemented firm boundaries between work and home, something I hadn’t seen at many other internship sites. Despite being an intern in a work environment that promotes balance, I still found myself thinking about my clients when I returned home. My supervisor suggested implementing a daily transition ritual. She herself would begin to transition between work and home during her commute home, and when she got in her driveway, she took off her badge and put it away in the car. Her badge never entered the house. Leaving her badge in the car symbolized that work did not enter the home, and that everything work-related would still be waiting for her when she got back in the car the following morning. Hearing her creative and intentional approach led me to wonder what other tips and tricks my colleagues utilized, outside of the tried-and-true self-care methods.
This inspired me to scour Reddit’s therapy channel to see what therapists worldwide are doing! I highly recommend doing your own research whether amongst your IRL friends, or internet friends. If you don’t have time, I’ve compiled a list of my favorites for you. Happy self-care hunting!!!
· I have my own therapist. And, just for me, I cry and ask for support when I need to. I have developed a very supportive group of family and friends, and I am honest with them. I also choose to work at a private outpatient agency. Patients are less acute and I am more likely to see patients improve. Seeing wins, listening to patients no longer suffer because they followed the treatment plan and are happy again… well, that makes everything better.
· My lovely energy worker encouraged me to take my shoes off and sit in a comfy place during sessions so I’m rearranging my office today to allow for that. I’m thinking of making a moss mat to stand on during the days, too, and bringing some lovely sensory items into the office. The bonus is I can use some of those things with my clients, too.
· Having a separate work area, not working on work related tasks in my “living space” area. When I’m done with work, I turn off the lights, close my space down, and will usually shower and change clothes.
· Self-care: it’s grounding for me to have a hot cup of tea to wrap my hands around throughout the day, fidgets are a lifesaver (I’m all virtual), my own therapy, qi gong, listening to music, reading fantasy, mornings are for me - I don’t start until 11 or noon so that I can wake up slow and enjoy my coffee or reading by the fireplace…in the summer, it’s gardening in the mornings. Once it’s nice out again, I’ll resume morning nature walks. Slowing way down with things like watching the snow fall…I keep grounding essential oils at my desk - fav is black spruce. Heat pad for my feet that sometimes get cold. Comfy clothes.
· I’ve cut back on pressure to engage in the news, mental health trainings, stressful movies and books … really just anything that spikes my cortisol outside of sessions that can be avoided right now. I think the balance of being informed vs sane is tipping towards sane right now. There is just too much heavy stuff too easily accessible on our smart phones for our brains to process.
· Sometimes I’ll go out in my backyard after the sun goes down and lie on a blanket and just stare at the vastness of space. My dog will be out in the yard sniffing around and, eventually he'll come over and sit by me. Just the silence of the outside and space. So peaceful. Mix in some slow breathing and I’m in a happy zone.
· I would use my lunch break to walk to the closest Southern Magnolia tree I could find, another day, I might go looking for a Japanese Maple, and then the next day try to find a Eucalyptus tree. It helped me be able to identify trees near me and have enough energy and enthusiasm to actually go outside. I was lucky to live in area with a lot of remarkable trees within walking distance.
· Don't do it nearly as often as I would like, but sensory deprivation tanks. There is always so much interaction and talking at work and at home that I like to just completely unplug and lay in totally abject silence for an hour every once in a while.
· I recently discovered the finch app. I’m only a few days in, but so far, I really look forward to self-care so I can see my little Finch walking around and meeting my self-care goals. I suggest you all look into it if not for yourself for your clients it’s really good. (I can attest this is a great app- a lot of my classmates and I used it in college and were accountability buddies!)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9423708/
https://www.simplepractice.com/blog/therapist-burnout-report/
