Mary-Frances O'Connor, Ph.D, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona

Caregivers include family members, doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and chaplains. Fatigue and burnout can hit anyone in a caregiver role who takes on this very important task in the lives of loved ones and patients. Dr. O'Connor describes the difficulties faced by caregivers, but more importantly discusses compassion as the overarching motivation for this difficult work. We can't 'run out' of compassion, but we can learn to improve our self-regulation skills in the face of difficult situations in order to decrease fatigue and burnout.