Date of Award

6-2020

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Gretchen Heidemann

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Compassion Fatigue and Burnout are two very familiar problems in the field of mental health that can harm both the provider and the client if untreated and left unresolved. Past research efforts have found prevention methods and ways to recover from both problems, from an individualized approach. These issues appear to possibly occur on an organizational or agency level, but very little research has been centered around this. Furthermore, this research has explored the differences to be found in experience across different scopes of practice within a mental health clinic.

From the constructivist approach, this research has gathered quantitative data, primarily using in-person interviews and purposive sampling to gather participants for this study. Information from the interviews was transcribed into electronic documents, then filtered and sorted using the Atlas.ti software. Data gathered from each participant then formed constructions, and was later used to create a joint construction and deeper understanding of the concepts through an in-depth discussion with all participants (known as a hermeneutic dialectic circle).

Findings from this study, may aid in the creation of new practices for agencies and organizations to prevent the conditions of Compassion Fatigue and Burnout, or provide a way to recover faster and more efficiently from them. The research may have also found that the two concepts are experienced differently depending on the type of service provider in the mental health clinic.

Included in

Social Work Commons

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