Compassion Fatigue vs. Burnout – Understanding the Difference

Introduction
Many therapists and high-stress professionals mistake compassion fatigue for burnout, but while they overlap, they are not the same. Understanding the difference is key to addressing the root cause of your exhaustion and taking the right steps toward recovery.

Burnout: A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged exposure to chronic stress.

• Symptoms: Detachment, loss of motivation, overwhelming fatigue, apathy.
• Root Cause: Workload imbalance, lack of boundaries, unmanaged stress.

Compassion Fatigue: The emotional depletion that comes from constantly absorbing others’ pain, trauma, or suffering.

• Symptoms: Increased irritability, avoidance, emotional numbness, feeling drained after client interactions.
• Root Cause: Empathy overload, emotional absorption, lack of emotional processing.

How to Address Both in Your Burnout Break Journal:

• If you’re dealing with burnout: Prioritize time away, boundary setting, and reducing workload.
• If you’re experiencing compassion fatigue: Focus on emotional processing, self-reflection, and energy restoration.

Using Pause, Process, Pivot, you can determine what you’re experiencing and take actionable steps toward recovery. You can’t keep pouring from an empty cup—now is the time to refill it.