Compassion fatigue increases stress resulting in lost productivity, staff turnover, and overall poor organizational health. Professionals in behavioral health or “helping profession” settings are at risk for developing secondary traumatic stress, depression, and/or burnout as they attend to others’s needs.  Professional’s needs are often overlooked in discussions about addressing compassion fatigue in the workforce. Priorities for clinicians, recovery support specialists, and caregivers are to interact with their clients to promote and model healthy coping behaviors.

Part I - Compassion Fatigue: How did we get here will provide a brief summary of the mortality associated with the opioid epidemic; describe the impact of the opioid epidemic on first responders, the clinical workforce and communities; and describe responses to address compassion fatigue.