Help for the Helper:
The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma
by Babette Rothschild
Therapist burnout is a pressing issue and self-care is possible only when therapists actively help themselves. Taking a frank assessment of the risks involved in psychotherapy, such as compassion fatigue and vicarious traumatization, Help for the Helper challenges current thinking about the ways in which therapists are affected by their clients. The result is a new outlook upon the therapeutic process that yields concrete strategies for mental health professionals who want to maintain their own mental health and overall well-being while maximizing their competency with clients.
Based on the latest neurobiological research and drawing from the literature in social psychology and folk psychology, Rothschild identifies three major processes that can, when left unchecked, pose enormous risks to a professional’s well-being. The most unexplored of these processes is empathy—a, if not the, major tool of the helping professions. Bridging the psychological and neurophysiological gap, Rothschild expands the concept of empathy by illuminating its heretofore neglected body component. The second process is the regulation of arousal in the professional. Rothschild reviews the relevant theories on stress and relaxation, applying it to the therapist in the helping situation. Thirdly, drawing again on neuroscience, Rothschild promotes the importance of maintaining the ability to think clearly, even in the most stressful of helping situations. Throughout each chapter, case illustrations, supervision transcripts, and easy-to-follow exercises will equip readers with the tools necessary to identify and mediate their own individual risk factors for compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization and burnout.
The mind-body perspective of Help for the Helper builds upon the foundation laid in the bestselling The Body Remembers and furthered in The Body Remembers Casebook. This perspective captures the complex processes by which therapists connect with and are connected to their clients and leads the way to the means for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks of those connections.
No mental health professional can afford to ignore the risks of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue. Help for the Helper is an essential resource for all helping professionals who want to help their clients while managing their exposure to burnout and stress.
Babette Rothschild, MSW, LCSW, has been practicing psychotherapy since 1976 and is a member of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the National Association of Social Workers, and the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. She is also the author of The Body Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma Treatment and The Body Remembers CASEBOOK: Unifying Methods and Models in the Treatment of Trauma and PTSD. After living and working for nine years in Denmark, she returned to her native Los Angeles, where she maintains a private practice while offering professional training, consultation, and supervision throughout the world.
Advance Acclaim
“With this book, Babette Rothschild establishes herself as a preeminent science writer, able to translate abstruse scientific concepts into practical clinical advice for helpers.”
— Elaine Hatfield, Professor of Psychology, University of Hawaii, and author of Emotional Contagion
“Help for the Helper is a gift to psychotherapists and others who open their hearts and minds to the pain of traumatized clients. It is the first publication to integrate contemporary research on the neurobiology of empathy into a broader understanding of the origins of vicarious traumatization and compassion fatigue. Babette Rothschild enlivens this highly readable, scholarly overview of the research with her conversational tone, clinical applications, examples, and exercises for therapists who want to address therapy’s negative effects on themselves. The book will be a valuable resource for seasoned clinicians and trainees alike, and provides guidance for working with trauma survivors in a way that enhances the therapist’s well-being while contributing to the client’s recovery.”
— Laurie Anne Pearlman, Ph.D., coauthor, Risking Connection and Trauma and the Therapist
“Babette Rothschild has done a masterful job in laying out important principles and strategies to avoid compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout. She integrates several core psychological concepts—countertransference, projective identification, and empathy—with recent research on mirror neurons, emotional contagion, and neurobiology. Help for the Helper, so clearly written and well organized, will benefit any practitioner who wants to avoid the fatigue that interferes with treatment of the people who are most in need of our help. Reading this book, and following the exercises Rothschild provides, will be of value for both new and experienced therapists.”
— Marion F. Solomon, Ph.D., is founder of the Lifespan Learning Institute in Los Angeles and is author of Narcissism and Intimacy and Lean on Me
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