Experience: A Double Edged Sword

The impact of delivering prolonged psychotherapy on empathy, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue

Abstract

Mental well being is an important component of overall development of a person. Psychologists are the backbone of the mental healthcare system of India. This study aimed to understand the impact of delivering psychotherapy for long durations on empathy, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. The data was collected using snowball and convenient sampling methods from 100 psychologists including males and females. The non parametric data obtained was analysed using Spearman’s rank order correlation and Brunner-Munzel test. The results suggested that compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue were influenced by years of experience but empathy was not significantly impacted by experience indicating the need for intervention at early stages of delivering therapy and emphasising on need for supervision and proper and effective training