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Guest Lecture Reflection

Department of Psychology, University of Saskatchewan

PSY 207 (01): Psychology of Death and Dying

Shelby Novak
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Death rituals vary greatly by culture, but funerals are a typical route for people in today’s

Western society (Novak, 2024) making funeral homes a busy place attracting grieving

individuals. This makes the job of a funeral director, as explained by our guest speakers, a

difficult one that requires time, familial, and emotional sacrifices. One such sacrifice is

compassion fatigue, a term used to describe emotional, physical, or behavioural distress

associated with acts of caring and it typically manifests in an individual’s reduced ability or

interest in being empathic as a consequence of experiencing others’ traumatizing events (Chen et

al., 2023; Harrison, 2021). This concept piqued my interest in our discussion as it is not only

experienced by funeral directors, but other professionals working with trauma sufferers including

nurses (Harris & Griffin, 2015), teachers (Xiao et al., 2024), and counselling psychologists

(Papadimitriou et al., 2023). As a hopeful future counselling psychologist myself, I see the

importance of not only recognizing compassion fatigue, but also dealing with it effectively.

When asked about compassion fatigue, the funeral director did not hesitate in admitting

that this was a significant issue for him, showing that at least for some individuals, you simply

know that you are experiencing it from the weight of your job. For those struggling to identify it,

people who are strongly empathetic are most at risk for compassion fatigue (Showalter, 2010),

and symptoms can include fatigue, irritability, sadness, difficulty concentrating, and feeling

helpless in the face of a patient's suffering (Canadian Medical Association, 2020).

When asked how they deal with compassion fatigue, they explained that they take it day

by day. This unfortunately is not an effective strategy for dealing with compassion fatigue. They

also mentioned that funeral directors do not have any protection against compassion fatigue.

Perhaps a preventative strategy that funeral directors, and other professions alike, can instil in

their workplace is further supports in accessing counselling where individuals can learn healthy
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interventions including mindfulness interventions and learning to desensitise to traumatic

stressors. Mindfulness based interventions have shown to alleviate psychological symptoms

associated with compassion fatigue by helping to create healthier ways of responding to stress

(Duarte & Pinto-Gouveia, 2016). Learning to desensitise from traumatic stressors is said to be

helpful in allowing professionals working with traumatized clients to have greater ability to face

and work through the traumatic stressors they are bound to face (Figley, 2002).

On a positive note, research shows that although feeling empathy can lead to compassion

fatigue, it can also lead to compassion satisfaction, the pleasure derived in helping others

(Hansen et al., 2018). This reflects what our guest speakers said about their job being fulfilling.

This gives hope to future professionals, like me, in having a fulfilling career just as our guest

speakers did.

Overall, I value getting to hear the funeral director’s experience as it brought awareness

of the topic of compassion fatigue and opened up a productive conversation. I and other future

professionals working in potential traumatizing environments need to be aware of acquiring

compassion fatigue, as well as be equipped in properly preventing and treating it.

References

Chen, F., Ge, Y., Xu, W., Yu, J., Zhang, Y., Xu, X., & Zhang, S. (2023). Changing

kindergarten teachers’ mindsets toward children to overcome Compassion Fatigue. Psychology

Research and Behavior Management, Volume 16, 521–533.

https://doi.org/10.2147/prbm.s398622

Compassion fatigue: Signs, symptoms, and how to Cope. Canadian Medical Association.

(2020, December 8). https://www.cma.ca/physician-wellness-hub/content/compassion-fatigue-

signs-symptoms-and-how-cope

Duarte, J., & Pinto-Gouveia, J. (2016). Effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention

on oncology nurses’ burnout and compassion fatigue symptoms: A non-randomized study.

International Journal of Nursing Studies, 64, 98–107.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2016.10.002

Figley, C. R. (2002). Compassion fatigue: Psychotherapists’ chronic lack of self care.

Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(11), 1433–1441. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10090

Hansen, E. M., Eklund, J. H., Hallén, A., Bjurhager, C. S., Norrström, E., Viman, A., &

Stocks, E. L. (2018). Does feeling empathy lead to compassion fatigue or compassion

satisfaction? the role of Time Perspective. The Journal of Psychology, 152(8), 630–645.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2018.1495170

Harris , C., & Griffin, M. (2015). Nursing on empty: Compassion Fatigue Signs,

Symptoms, and System Interventions. Journal of Christian Nursing, 32(2).

https://doi.org/10.1097/cnj.0000000000000175
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Harrison, K. (2021). Compassion Fatigue: Understanding Empathy. Veterinary Clinics of

North America: Small Animal Practice, 51(5), 1041–1051.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvsm.2021.04.020

Novak, S. (2024). Chapter 3: Cultural & Religious Beliefs & Death-Related Practices.

Lecture.

Papadimitriou, A., Karakasidou, E., & Stalikas, A. (2023). The role of self-compassion in

the relationship between empathy and compassion fatigue in counseling psychologists. The

European Journal of Counselling Psychology. https://doi.org/10.46853/001c.88375

Showalter, S. E. (2010). Compassion fatigue: What is it? why does it matter? recognizing

the symptoms, acknowledging the impact, developing the tools to prevent compassion fatigue,

and strengthen the professional already suffering from the effects. American Journal of Hospice

and Palliative Medicine®, 27(4), 239–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909109354096

Xiao, W., Sun, B., Yu, X., Xue, D., & Zhou, H. (2024). Core symptoms of teachers’

compassion fatigue and their characteristics at different career stages. School Mental Health,

16(1), 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-024-09633-1