Practice of Self- Compassion among Mental Health Service Providers and Its relationship with Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue

Abstract

Few studies have focused on caring professionals, their ability to feel compassion for themselves( Self-compassion), their level of contentment and pleasure that they receive from the kind of mental health care services they provide to those in need (Compassion Satisfaction) and in addition to that their level of emotional exhaustion from working with distressed clients, (Compassion Fatigue ).Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the practice of Self-Compassion (SC) among mental health service providers and its relationship with Compassion Satisfaction (CS) and Compassion Fatigue (CF). Present study was conducted with correlational research design and the participants of the research included female mental health service providers (N=52) employed in various governmental health care set up (17.3%), private clinic (15.4%) , non-governmental organizations (32.7%) and providing counseling services in higher educational institutes as well as involved in private practice (19.2%) and private hospital setting (15.4%) . The participants of the study were selected through purposive and snow ball sampling techniques. Data of current research was collected using demographic data sheet, Self-compassion Scale (Neff, 2003a) and subscales of Professional-Quality-of-Life Scale (ProQOL) i.e. Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue (Stamm, 2010). Descriptive statistics, inferential statistics (pearson product moment correlation, independent sample t-test and multiple regression analysis) were conducted for data analysis. The results of the current study revealed that 73.1% of the participants were working in various mental health care settings of Islamabad and Rawalpindi and majority of them had 18 years of Education (69.2%). A substantial number of them had 5 years of work experience and 72.2% of them showed low levels of Compassion Fatigue and 26.9 % of the participants showed moderate levels of reduced empathy for their Self-Compassion, Compassion Satisfaction & Compassion Fatigue Among Mental Health Service Providers xviii clients.Whereas, in terms of Compassion Satisfaction 38.5% of the mental health service providers showed moderate levels of their ability to receive gratification from caregiving and 61.5% showed high levels of satisfaction that they receive from care giving. Results also indicated that those mental health service providers, practicing stress reduction strategies such as deep breathing, meditation, mindfulness, exercise and journal writing scored significantly lower (M=19.81, SD=7.69) on levels of Compassion Fatigue (p<0.05) as compared to those mental health service providers who do not practice stress reduction strategies. Results also revealed that practice of being warm, kind and understanding towards oneself in times of failure, recognizing that everyone makes mistakes, and awareness of negative thoughts and emotions among mental health service providers, will increase levels of Compassion Satisfaction and decrease the levels of Compassion Fatigue. Results of multiple regression analysis also indicated that Self-Compassion (β =.53***) was the significant predictor of Compassion Fatigue among mental health service providers. Findings indicate that Self-Compassion and Compassion Satisfaction can help to lessen the negative impact of Compassion Fatigue among mental health service providers working in various mental health settings in Pakistan. However, it is also necessary to mention that these levels of Self-Compassion, Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue reported by participants of the current study might have been influenced by their sample characteristics such as having reduced professional training as majority (82.8%) of the sample falls in the age bracket of young adulthood (24-30) and are also providing their services without surveillance from any legal mental health regulatory body in Pakistan, that also poses challenge to their professional competence. Self-Compassion, Compassion Satisfaction & Compassion Fatigue Among Mental Health Service Providers 1