WHEN THE CLINICIAN IS BURDENED: CLINICIAN’S TRAUMA HISTORY, RESILIENCY AND THE IMPACT ON COMPASSION FATIGUE

This dissertation study was motivated by the desire to understand the relationship between a clinician’s prior traumatic experiences and the degree to which trauma may alter the personal impact of their work with clients in the form of perceived compassion fatigue. The methodology used in this study was designed to gather information about the relationship between 1) a clinician’s trauma and current levels of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction, and 2) the relationships between a clinician’s trauma and compassion fatigue when moderated by mindfulness, subjective vitality, psychological well-being and sleep. Regression results indicated that mindfulness, subjective vitality and psychological well-being were statistically significantly related with compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. Additionally, the results of this study provided empirical evidence that mindfulness and subjective vitality independently moderated the relationship between clinician’s prior trauma and experience of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction