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When Caring Hurts: Understanding Compassion Fatigue with Patricia Smith
In this episode of The Rescue Dog Pod, we dive into a topic that’s deeply personal and often left unspoken — compassion fatigue. Whether you’re involved in animal rescue, veterinary work, or any kind of caregiving role, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Our host opens up about their own experience with compassion fatigue — the emotional and physical exhaustion that can come from caring deeply, day after day. Together with Patricia Smith, Certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project, we explore what compassion fatigue really is, how it differs from stress and burnout, and why those who dedicate their lives to helping others are particularly vulnerable.
Patricia shares powerful insights from over two decades of research, teaching, and advocacy, as well as practical strategies for promoting wellness, creating a self-care plan, and finding a path toward healing.
This episode is a reminder that you’re not alone, and there is no shame in struggling when your work revolves around empathy and care.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Smith is a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. She has been speaking and facilitating workshops on the subject nationally and internationally for the past 23 years. She first learned about compassion fatigue as the Training and Development Director at Humane Society Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as a consultant for American Humane for several years, and then the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in New York City. With a background in journalism, she has authored five books on the subject including Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Handling in Veterinary Practice, published by Grupo Asis, an international publisher of veterinary medicine books and materials. She presented a TEDx talk entitled: Navigating the Path to Wellness; Compassion Fatigue in Caregiving. The talk can be viewed at www.compassionfatigue.org.
Listen now on Podbean, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, and take a moment to care for the most important life you rescue — your own.
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By Stray Dog SupportIn this episode of The Rescue Dog Pod, we dive into a topic that’s deeply personal and often left unspoken — compassion fatigue. Whether you’re involved in animal rescue, veterinary work, or any kind of caregiving role, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
Our host opens up about their own experience with compassion fatigue — the emotional and physical exhaustion that can come from caring deeply, day after day. Together with Patricia Smith, Certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project, we explore what compassion fatigue really is, how it differs from stress and burnout, and why those who dedicate their lives to helping others are particularly vulnerable.
Patricia shares powerful insights from over two decades of research, teaching, and advocacy, as well as practical strategies for promoting wellness, creating a self-care plan, and finding a path toward healing.
This episode is a reminder that you’re not alone, and there is no shame in struggling when your work revolves around empathy and care.
Speaker Bio
Patricia Smith is a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project. She has been speaking and facilitating workshops on the subject nationally and internationally for the past 23 years. She first learned about compassion fatigue as the Training and Development Director at Humane Society Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as a consultant for American Humane for several years, and then the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in New York City. With a background in journalism, she has authored five books on the subject including Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Handling in Veterinary Practice, published by Grupo Asis, an international publisher of veterinary medicine books and materials. She presented a TEDx talk entitled: Navigating the Path to Wellness; Compassion Fatigue in Caregiving. The talk can be viewed at www.compassionfatigue.org.
Listen now on Podbean, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, and take a moment to care for the most important life you rescue — your own.