Alireza Sabetifara, Zahra Alsadat Haji Seyed Taghiya Taghavi
{"title":"Understanding compassion fatigue among child and adolescent psychotherapists: insights from a thematic analysis.","authors":"Alireza Sabetifara, Zahra Alsadat Haji Seyed Taghiya Taghavi","doi":"10.1186/s40359-026-04718-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Compassion fatigue is a critical professional challenge for child and adolescent psychotherapists. It stems from prolonged exposure to clients' trauma and emotional suffering, resulting in the depletion of emotional and empathic resources.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological approach and used thematic analysis to examine data collected through semi-structured interviews.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants described compassion fatigue as a gradual erosion of empathy and vitality that extends beyond emotional exhaustion to impair their ethical and relational capacities.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings underscore the necessity of systemic and culturally sensitive supports, such as clinical supervision, balanced workloads, and organizational awareness, to protect therapists' emotional well-being and maintain compassionate engagement in psychotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":37867,"journal":{"name":"BMC Psychology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMC Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-04718-9","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Compassion fatigue is a critical professional challenge for child and adolescent psychotherapists. It stems from prolonged exposure to clients' trauma and emotional suffering, resulting in the depletion of emotional and empathic resources.
Methods: This qualitative study adopted a phenomenological approach and used thematic analysis to examine data collected through semi-structured interviews.
Results: Participants described compassion fatigue as a gradual erosion of empathy and vitality that extends beyond emotional exhaustion to impair their ethical and relational capacities.
Conclusion: The findings underscore the necessity of systemic and culturally sensitive supports, such as clinical supervision, balanced workloads, and organizational awareness, to protect therapists' emotional well-being and maintain compassionate engagement in psychotherapy.
期刊介绍：
BMC Psychology is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers manuscripts on all aspects of psychology, human behavior and the mind, including developmental, clinical, cognitive, experimental, health and social psychology, as well as personality and individual differences. The journal welcomes quantitative and qualitative research methods, including animal studies.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
