The Lived Experience of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout in Social Workers

Compassion fatigue and burnout evoke a professional and often personal crisis. This interpretative phenomenological analysis explored the lived experience of these phenomena for twelve social work professionals who self-identified as having an episode of compassion fatigue and/or burnout. While the literature is replete with many of the tangible factors that can lead to compassion fatigue and burnout, such as a toxic workplace, emotionally challenging clients/client stories, and personal vulnerabilities, few studies have explored the qualitative lived experience. During data analysis, two salient themes emerged from the stories of the participants: moral distress and shame. These concepts are explored in order to deepen the understanding and complexity of compassion fatigue and burnout. The implications of this study suggest that social work education, self-care, and supervision may not adequately prepare or buffer social workers from these phenomena.