Compassion Fatigue at Year’s End for Mental Health Providers

By Bruce Goldberg, President & Co-Owner, River’s Bend PC

The end of the year in behavioral health work isn’t always wrapped in ribbons and warm feelings. For many of us, it’s the season when the weight of the job feels heaviest.

As a provider, you carry the stories others cannot hold alone. You guide families through crises, sit with grief that hasn’t yet found language, and sometimes, especially around the holidays, you shoulder trauma that reverberates across communities.

This time of year, I’m reminded of two recent events that left deep imprints on me and many of my colleagues:

We don’t just read or discuss these stories, we absorb them, professionally and personally.

When the Helpers Hurt: Compassion Fatigue Is Real

Compassion fatigue doesn’t arrive loudly. It shows up subtly: in missed meals, short tempers, a flat affect that wasn’t there in September.

If you’re in high-acuity work like intensive outpatient care, crisis stabilization, or substance use treatment, these signs can creep in fast during the holidays.1 Referrals spike. Clients struggle with isolation, relapse, and grief. And you keep showing up. Because it’s what we do.

But let me say this clearly: just because you’re trained to help others doesn’t mean you’re immune to the cost.

How I Reset Without Taking Time Off

Let’s be honest: not every provider has the luxury of stepping away. I’ve led programs through the holidays for decades, often while managing my own secondary trauma. Here’s what’s helped me stay grounded—no sabbatical required:

1. Find Meaning in the Work (Even When It’s Heavy)

After the Grand Blanc shooting, I remember talking with a first responder who simply could not sleep. We didn’t fix it at the moment, but we made space. That mattered. Sometimes the meaning is in the moment, not the outcome.

Ask yourself at the end of each week: “What moment reminded me why I do this?” Write it down. Carry it into the next.

2. Boundary Work Isn’t Cold, It’s Clinical

I used to think working late made me a better leader. It didn’t. It made me feel depleted.
Now, I practice “clinical closure” after sessions and meetings. A quick ritual such as a short walk, music in the car, even just locking my office door and taking one deep breath.2

Boundary practices to try this season:

  • Turn off email notifications after work hours
  • Replace back-to-back sessions with 5-minute resets
  • Use a phrase that ends your clinical day: “I’ve done enough for today.”

3. Peer Support Isn’t a Luxury, It’s a Lifeline

During the early days of the pandemic, I watched seasoned clinicians crumble in silence. When we opened space for monthly peer gathering at our P4P events, it changed everything.

You need safe spaces to say the hard stuff:
“I’m struggling to help someone who reminds me of my son.”
“I’m furious about a client’s insurance denial.”
“I cried after group and didn’t know why.”

If your network doesn’t have a professional peer group, create one or attend our December event. It doesn’t have to be formal, just intentional.

From the Desk of a Provider Who’s Been There

This past year, several of our clinicians at River’s Bend supported individuals and colleagues facing unimaginable losses—parents who lost children to overdose, teens emerging from suicidal crises, and professionals who had everything “together” until they didn’t.

And yet, our team showed up with empathy, skill, and grace. Not because they were superhuman, but because they practiced what we teach: structured self-renewal.

Call out: “Resetting doesn’t mean removing yourself from the work. It means reconnecting with the part of you that’s still whole.”
— Bruce Goldberg

Usable Tips for Fellow Providers

You don’t need a retreat or a new certification to take better care of yourself. Try these tools instead:

✦ Therapy Skills for Therapists (Yes, You Too)

  • Practicing gratitude as a daily clinical ritual—how noticing small moments of meaning can renew your energy
  • Finding fulfillment in the work, even during tough seasons
  • Staying connected to your “why” when the caseload is heavy and outcomes feel unclear

🟦 In this video, I’ll talk about how I stay motivated to keep doing this work after decades—and why gratitude, not perfection, is what keeps me coming back.

✦ Journal Prompt for Reflection

“What have I survived this year—and how did I show up anyway?”

Give yourself credit. You made space for others. You adapted. You held steady when others could not.

✦ Boundary Check: Ask Yourself

  • Am I carrying something that doesn’t belong to me?
  • What am I doing for myself that isn’t about anyone else?
  • Who’s in my corner when I’m not okay?

Let’s Normalize Provider Vulnerability

We must talk more openly about the emotional labor in behavioral health.3 Especially at year’s end. Especially during a time when the world feels both beautiful and brutal.

To every clinician, counselor, therapist, and crisis responder reading this:

🟦 You matter.
🟦 Your wellness is part of the treatment plan.
🟦 Resetting isn’t weakness, it’s wise.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we approach the new year, my hope is that you walk into 2026 a little lighter. That you keep doing this work, yes; yet always cultivate your own peace and well-being.

At River’s Bend, we are committed to being not just providers of care, but a community of it.

Need support, collaboration, or just someone to talk shop with?

Reach out to us. You don’t have to carry it all.

References 

  1. Adnan, N. B. B., Dafny, H. A., Baldwin, C., Jakimowitz, S., Chalmers, D., Aroury, A. M. A., & Chamberlain, D. (2022). What are the solutions for well-being and burn-out for healthcare professionals? An umbrella realist review of learnings of individual-focused interventions for critical care. BMJ Open, 12(9), e060973. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-060973  ↩︎
  2. McKenzie, F. R. (2011). Understanding and managing the therapeutic relationship. Lyceum Books, Incorporated. ↩︎
  3. Chen, C., Lan, Y., Chiou, S., & Lin, Y. (2022). The effect of emotional labor on the physical and mental health of health professionals: Emotional exhaustion has a mediating effect. Healthcare, 11(1), 104. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11010104  ↩︎

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