Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Major
Animation
First Advisor
Sue L. Motulsky, Ed.D.
Second Advisor
Daniel Simone, Ed.D.
Third Advisor
Kellyanne Brady, Ph.D.
Abstract
Compassion Fatigue (CF) is a state of emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from prolonged exposure to stressful or traumatic experiences, specifically among healthcare workers, and it negatively impacts their ability to provide care to their patients and perform their jobs effectively (Singh et al., 2020). The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the lived experiences of compassion fatigue in mental health clinicians who previously worked in in-patient psychiatric hospitals and their subsequent resignations. This phenomenological research explored participants' understanding and descriptions of their CF experiences in their roles within psychiatric hospitals and how CF contributed to their leaving their positions. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom. The participants all identified as women, were mostly White, with one Latina, and ranged in age from mid-twenties to the mid-sixties. They were licensed mental health counselors (LMHCs), licensed clinical social workers (LCSWs), and licensed creative arts therapists (LCATs), who had resigned from their positions at in-patient psychiatric hospitals in New York, and reported experiencing CF. A reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) revealed five themes: lived experiences of compassion fatigue, work-life imbalance, impacts of COVID-19, coping, and organizational issues. Findings highlight shared experiences of physical and emotional exhaustion, organizational stressors, and insufficient systemic supports that contributed to their CF. A major reason participants resigned from psychiatric hospitals was the lack of supervisory and institutional support, which left participants feeling invalidated, unsafe, unheard, and isolated. Implications for CF prevention and recovery are discussed for graduate counseling programs, mental health clinicians, and healthcare organizations. Social justice implications of the research are addressed.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Ladner, Katie, "“There Was Nothing Left to Give”: Experiences of Compassion Fatigue Among Former In-patient Psychiatric Clinicians" (2026). Counseling and Psychology Dissertations. 11.
https://digitalcommons.lesley.edu/counseling_psychology_dissertation/11
Number of Pages
152
Included in
Clinical and Medical Social Work Commons, Clinical Psychology Commons, Cognition and Perception Commons, Community Health Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Counseling Psychology Commons, Counselor Education Commons, COVID-19 Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Health Psychology Commons, Health Services Research Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Nursing Administration Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Other Public Health Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, Quality Improvement Commons, Social Justice Commons, Women's Health Commons
