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organization experience the interactive effects of burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion
fatigue. Although this study is focused on burnout, understanding how this
differs from other consequences of trauma is important to help organizations support
HRL professionals in their helping role.
Compassion Fatigue
Compassion fatigue describes the broad experience of reduced empathetic capacity
or interest in bearing the suffering of others. Specifically, Figley (2002) posited that
helping professionals can experience compassion fatigue when they hold onto the suffering
of those they have helped, and over time they can feel detached not only from
the people they have helped, but also from others when emotional responses are reasonable.
Housing and residence life professionals experience not only the stressors of
their work environment but also those associated with their role as helpers; this can
diminish their capacity to experience and project the necessary empathy to effectively
function in their jobs. Student affairs professionals who help others who are traumatized
may have a first-hand understanding of van Dernoot Lipsky's (2009) reflection
about the difference between being tired and experiencing fatigue.
There is a difference between feeling tired because you put in a hard day's work
and feeling fatigued in every cell of your being. . . . The kind of tired that results
from having a trauma exposure response is a bone-tired, soul-tired, heart-tired kind
of exhaustion. (p. 110)
Not being able to demonstrate compassion toward those who have experienced
trauma separates the professional from the person they are serving, and, over time, it
limits the access that professionals have to a full range of feelings, which can result in
significant distress (Figley, 2002). Unfortunately, compassion fatigue may not even be
recognized by peers and supervisors, who may ultimately interpret the fatigue as poor
job performance.
Secondary Traumatic Stress
Persistent compassion fatigue may develop into secondary traumatic stress; this is an
emotional response to the trauma experiences of others (Figley, 2002). Though anyone
in a helping position can experience secondary traumatic stress, it can disproportionately
affect individuals possessing marginalized identities, such as people of color,
women, and LGBTQIA+ individuals (Brown, 2008). van Dernoot Lipsky (2009) uses
the metaphor of throwing a stone into water to describe secondary trauma. The stone
represents a traumatic event. The first ripple signifies the person directly experiencing
the trauma, and the effects spread outward to those closest to the traumatized person:
family, friends, and professional helpers. In providing help and support, those closest
to the traumatized person may experience traumatic responses. Frequent exposure
to secondary trauma may result in feelings of unease, unsteadiness, exhaustion, and
disengagement from helping work.
Volume 49, No. 3 * 2023 37

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