CARRYING THE WEIGHT: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF COMPASSION FATIGUE AMONG SCHOOL COUNSELORS

Abstract

Current trends indicate that schools are struggling to recruit and retain PK-12 school counselors nationwide. Scholars have theorized that one contributing reason for the lack of school counselors is compassion fatigue stemming from challenging work with students suffering different levels of trauma. Yet, very little empirical research has sought to investigate to what extent school counselors experience compassion fatigue as well as what factors are associated with this psychological state. To address these gaps, the purpose of this study was to investigate self-reported levels of compassion fatigue among Oklahoma’s PK-12 school counselors (n = 563) as well as factors associated with compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue was analyzed using commonly used proxy measures of burnout and secondary trauma. This study’s results did not indicate high levels of compassion fatigue among school counselors overall. School counselors exhibited only moderate levels of burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion satisfaction after controlling for individual characteristics, individual professional characteristics, school demographics, and community demographics. However, among personal, school, and community indicators, this study found that poor perceptions of administrative support were consistently related to high burnout, high secondary traumatic stress, and low compassion satisfaction, which in combination, is thought to be representative of high compassion fatigue. Less experience, being younger, and personal experiences of trauma were also associated with burnout and secondary traumatic stress. The findings in this study raise important questions for schools on how to provide administrative supports for school counselors, particularly those who are new to the profession and have their own experiences with trauma.