Those who care for young children have big hearts and work hard to create loving, nurturing relationships with the little ones in their care. Working in the field of early childhood care and education is incredibly rewarding, but it can also be quite exhausting since little ones require a lot of energy, patience, and compassion.
Working with young children and their families can be particularly challenging when a child or their family members have experienced difficult or traumatic situations. As educators, we form deep connections with the families of the young children in our care, and this can sometimes result in our own sense of wellbeing being negatively impacted by a family’s stressful or traumatic experiences. When this happens, it’s important that we take steps to ensure that the stress we feel doesn’t become compassion fatigue or lead to burn-out.
This article explores the concept of compassion fatigue and its warning signs. You’ll also find tips and resources to help ECE providers establish a self-care practice that will help them recognize and take steps to prevent compassion fatigue and burn-out.
Compassion fatigue is a term used to describe the exhaustion that a person can feel when caring for or helping someone who has been exposed to trauma. In an article written by educator and advocate Nicole Homerin, M.Ed, compassion fatigue is defined as a “secondary traumatic stress disorder or response directly related to the feelings of helplessness and psychological distress experienced by individuals in helping professions.”
When we work with children and families who have experienced trauma or other difficult situations, we listen to their stories so we can understand their needs and offer support. This active listening increases our ability to empathize with a family’s unique challenges and to demonstrate our concern for their wellbeing. Sometimes, however, we find ourselves internalizing the stress being experienced by the family, as we worry about how they are coping or feel a sense of helplessness because of our limited ability to make their situation better. We might even have our own history of trauma that can be triggered by their stories. This ongoing exposure to stress ultimately wears on our brains and leads to compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue can show up in a variety of different ways. A fact sheet and chart (below) from California Learning Collaborative on Alternative Education’s article entitled Building Resilience Among Educators, lists several potential warning signs of compassion fatigue. The warning signs for ECE professionals to look out for are grouped into four categories: Cognitive, Emotional, Behavioral, and Physical.
An excerpt from NAEYC’s book Trauma and Young Children: Teaching Strategies to Support and Empower Children explains: “Everyone who teaches children with a trauma background is susceptible to developing compassion fatigue. Some early childhood educators, however, are more likely than others to develop this condition: women, new teachers, those who are most empathic by nature, and those who have their own unresolved personal traumas.”
The best way to avoid compassion fatigue is to set aside some time to care for yourself. While self-care might feel indulgent, it is a necessary part of our work as educators. Without making space to care for ourselves, we cannot show up and be fully present for the children and families in our care. Self-care can look different for each early care professional, varying by a person’s time, needs, and personality. Listed below are a few simple, preventative self-care practices that might be a good fit for you:
