Compassion Fatigue in Education

Description

Compassion fatigue is silently draining the energy, empathy, and resilience of educators and behavioral health professionals across the country. When helping students becomes emotionally exhausting, it doesn’t just affect your well-being—it affects your ability to reach those who need you most.

If you’re noticing signs of burnout, emotional detachment, or stress from your work in education or behavioral health, this course offers both understanding and relief. Learn how to reclaim your professional vitality through a deeper awareness of trauma and evidence-based strategies for resilience.

Dr. Vanessa Snyder, PhD, LMFT, is a nationally recognized expert in trauma treatment and the Vice President of the Richmont Institute for Trauma & Recovery. As an Assistant Professor at Richmont Graduate University and the director of clinical services at the Richmont Trauma Center, she brings decades of clinical experience working with traumatized individuals and systems. Her expertise in compassion fatigue, burnout, and organizational trauma uniquely equips her to guide clinicians through the complexities of caring for others without sacrificing themselves.

Dr. Snyder’s teaching approach is trauma-informed, compassionate, and clinically grounded. With clarity and care, she integrates research, brain science, and real-world examples, offering both a conceptual framework and practical tools that participants can implement immediately. Her training style helps clinicians build emotional intelligence and regulatory capacity in a way that feels both validating and actionable.

Participants will explore the neurobiological effects of trauma, the emotional cost of caregiving, and the difference between burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and compassion fatigue. The course outlines why trauma-informed education is critical, how educators are uniquely vulnerable, and what can be done to build internal and systemic resilience. Through practical strategies like progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness breathing, and emotional freedom techniques (EFT), attendees learn how to restore equilibrium and return to their work grounded and recharged.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand trauma’s ripple effect: Recognize how trauma in students and systems leads to emotional exhaustion in educators and clinicians.

• Name the symptoms of fatigue: Learn to identify the signs of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress before they escalate into burnout.

• Practical tools for resilience: Gain strategies to reduce and prevent compassion fatigue using techniques grounded in neuroscience and somatic regulation.

Why this course?

• Tailored for professionals in education and behavioral health: This training bridges the worlds of trauma-informed care and educational environments, making it highly relevant and immediately useful.

• Led by a trauma authority: Dr. Vanessa Snyder is a certified traumatologist and seasoned clinician with hands-on experience treating both individual and systemic trauma.

• Offered by a trusted CE provider: Telehealth Certification Institute equips clinicians with high-quality, impactful continuing education designed to empower and inspire.

Learning Objectives:

• List the 7 presuppositions of trauma

• Define and identify compassion fatigue (CF) and secondary traumatic stress (STS)

• Identify ways to reduce or eliminate CF and STS

This self-paced, one-hour course is a lifeline for clinicians seeking to protect their energy, deepen their impact, and sustain their work for the long haul. Add it to your learning plan today and start the journey toward renewed strength and clarity.

Format and Access

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a post-test.

Course Details

Availability: 

From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.

Who Should Attend: 

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching Methods: 

This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

How to Attend: 

Course access and completion instructions.

Instructor and Disclosures

Instructor

About Dr. Vanessa Snyder, PhD, LMFT

Dr. Vanessa is the Vice President of the Richmont Institute for Trauma & Recovery and is an Assistant Professor Richmont Graduate University. She spearheaded the launch of the Richmont Trauma Center and now directs all clinical services. She is a practicing Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is also an AAMFT Approved Supervisor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, Certified Sex Therapist, Certified Master Traumatologist, and Certified Anger Management Specialist. Clinically, she specializes in treatment of trauma, complex trauma, and dissociative disorders. Her areas of research include program evaluation and treatment in human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation; dissociative disorders and spirituality, adverse childhood experiences effects in treatment, and compassion fatigue & burnout, organizational trauma. 
Experience: Snyder, V. (March 2020). Traumatized Clients, the Drama Triangle, and the Person of the Therapist: A Backwards Journey Through Organizational Trauma.
Presented at the Christian Association of Psychological Studies (CAPS). Atlanta, GA.
Rosenau, D. & Snyder, V. (March, 2020). Restoring Sexual Intimacy after Trauma. Presented at the Christian Association of Psychological Studies (CAPS). Atlanta, GA.
Snyder, V. (April, 2020). Treating Traumatized Families. Green Cross Certification Workshop; Presented for Richmont Institute of Trauma & Recovery, Atlanta, GA.

Disclosure Statement: 

The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.

CE Hours

Credit Hours: 

This course consists of 1 continuing education hour of credit.

Counselors:

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.  Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.

Marriage and Family Therapists: 

Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.

Social Workers:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.

Addiction Professionals:

This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.

Psychologists:

Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.

Art Therapists: 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.

Other Professionals: 

This course qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

Accommodations and Policies

Close Captioning is available for live webinars and recorded video presentations.

You can click on the following links to view our policies:

• Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.
• Cancellation Policy
• Grievance Policy
• Support Options
• Disclosure Statement