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💡 Understanding Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Compassion Fatigue

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💡 Understanding Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Compassion Fatigue

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As helping professionals, we often pour our energy into others’ needs, sometimes at the cost of our own well-being.

Burnout develops gradually through chronic stress, exhaustion, and emotional depletion.

Secondary trauma occurs when we absorb others’ pain or traumatic experiences, often leading to feelings of helplessness or hypervigilance.

Compassion fatigue combines both—when empathy becomes overwhelming and begins to drain rather than sustain us. Recognizing these signs early is essential because they don’t appear suddenly; they build quietly over time.

Understanding these challenges has reminded me that caring for myself is just as important as caring for others. Both are acts of professional integrity and compassion.

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To prevent burnout and compassion fatigue, I will practice self-awareness, boundaries, and balance. By checking in with myself emotionally and physically on a regular basis, I will catch early warning signs of stress while they are still manageable. Aside from being able to identify early signs of stress I will also practice:

Saying "no" when I need to and schedule time for rest, creativity, and connection with supportive colleagues.

Take breaks within the workday and intentionally unplug after work in order to maintain energy and perspective.

Prevention, for me, means taking proactive steps to nurture resilience rather than waiting until I’m overwhelmed to recover.

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Two self-care strategies I plan to practice throughout this term are

mindful movement

intentional reflection

I will make time for daily walks or stretching to release tension and reset mentally after emotionally demanding days.

I also plan to spend ten minutes each evening journaling or meditating to process my thoughts and refocus my energy.

These habits help me stay balanced, grounded, and emotionally available to my students and colleagues. By committing to these simple, consistent routines, I can better sustain my own wellness while continuing to support others effectively.

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Self-care is vital in the helping profession because it sustains our ability to show up for others with empathy, patience, and clarity.

Both the Green Cross and Penn State PRO Wellness resources emphasize that wellness is not a personal indulgence, it is a professional necessity. When we neglect our own needs, the quality of care we provide can suffer, and over time, compassion fatigue can erode our effectiveness.

I’ve realized that practicing self-care is an act of accountability: it protects my mental and emotional health while modeling balance for the students and families I serve. By maintaining healthy boundaries and consistently checking in with myself, I can remain grounded and resilient even when work becomes emotionally demanding.

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Green Cross Academy of Traumatology. (2013). Standards of self-care guidelines. Green Cross Academy of Traumatology. https://www.greencross.org/uploads/2/1/9/4/21940927/standards_of_self_care_guidelines.pdf

Penn State PRO Wellness. (n.d.). Prevention & self-care. Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. https://prowellness.childrens.pennstatehealth.org/school/mental-wellness/prevention-self-care/