Identifying and Treating Compassion Fatigue in Healthcare Professionals

Description

This course does not offer CE Credits. The same course is available for purchase and offers 3 CE hours for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

Every clinician who devotes themselves to the healing of others will, at some point, face the emotional toll of carrying others’ pain. Compassion fatigue, burnout, and countertransference are not signs of failure — they’re signs that you’ve cared deeply. But they can derail your well-being if left unaddressed.

This course is your opportunity to pause and tend to your own wellness — not just as a professional obligation, but as a vital act of self-preservation. Grounded in real-life experience and practical strategies, this course empowers behavioral health professionals to recognize and respond to their own signs of fatigue so they can continue to do the work they love.

Sarah Dooling, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S, brings deep compassion and lived insight into this course, alongside co-instructors Sven Legg, LPC; Dr. Kristy Holloway, EdD, LPC, NCC, BC-TMH, ACS, PMH-C; and Melba Robinson, MSW. Each instructor brings a wealth of clinical experience, leadership, and heart — from trauma stewardship and play therapy to maternal mental health and survivor advocacy — offering a multidisciplinary lens to a shared challenge faced by all helping professionals.

The presenters weave together experiential exercises, ethical standards, and personal stories to foster awareness and renewal. Their approach is reflective, grounded, and relational — inviting you to check in with yourself, identify warning signs, and leave with an individualized plan for sustainable self-care.

Topics explored include understanding the distinctions and overlap between countertransference, compassion fatigue, and burnout; the ethical imperatives for clinician wellness; creative strategies for self-care and containment; the systemic factors that contribute to clinician stress; and practical ways to build community, monitor well-being, and strengthen work-life boundaries.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify your own early warning signs: Learn to recognize how your personal stressors contribute to compassion fatigue and burnout.

• Reconnect with purpose and practices: Reflect on your current self-care routines and discover how to revitalize them through creativity and intentionality.

• Prevent professional impairment: Integrate ethically sound and personally meaningful strategies for sustainable practice.

Why this course?

• Led by practicing clinicians who understand the weight of this work: The instructors bring decades of direct clinical experience and specialized expertise.

• Rooted in compassion, ethics, and real-world solutions: This course addresses both the human and professional costs of burnout — and offers tools to restore balance.

• Brought to you by a mission-driven organization: Telehealth Certification Institute is committed to equipping clinicians with exceptional education and resources that prioritize integrity, kindness, and wellness.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify how their current and past stressors interact to create counter-transference, compassion fatigue, and burnout

• Define current self-care routines and practice incorporating creativity to improve those habits

It’s time to tend to the caregiver — you. This course is an invitation to recommit to your own wellness with intention, creativity, and integrity. 

Begin your self-study by enrolling now — and return to the work you love with renewed purpose.

Format and Access

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

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.

Instructors and Disclosures

Instructors

About Sarah Dooling, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S

Sarah is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor specializing in play therapy. Sarah teaches graduate-level classes at two San Diego universities, and facilitates creative, interactive professional development workshops for clinicians and educators. She is employed at Escondido Union School District and also works in private practice.

About Sven Legg, LPC

Sven has provided therapy for individuals, couples, and families since 2014 after graduating from the University of Florida. He is a counselor with Chatuge Regional Hospital Rehabilitation Wellness Center and lives in the NE GA mountains with his wife, Meredith, and their dog Simba.

About Dr. Kristy Holloway, EdD, LPC, NCC, BC-TMH, ACS, PMH-C 

Kristy is an Assistant Professor at Lindsey Wilson College in the School of Professional Counseling, the founder and director of New Vision Counseling Center, LLC, and founder of New Vision Consulting and Training, LLC, both located in Georgia. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a National Certified Counselor, a Board Certified Tele-mental Health Provider, a counselor supervisor, and certified in Perinatal Mental Health. She works with racial and ethnic minority women experiencing infertility trauma, birth trauma, reproductive loss, and issues related to maternal mental health. Dr. Christopher-Holloway is a national and international speaker with a focus on topics such as African Americans and mental health, the psycho-emotional impact of infertility in African American women, perinatal mood disorders, the strong Black woman syndrome, generational trauma, cultural competence/humility, and more. She has received numerous honors, including the Breakthrough Award for Outstanding Research awarded by the National Board of Certified Counselors, in recognition of her work related to mental health and infertility.

About Melba Robinson, MSW 

Melba has a vast knowledge encompassing the field of commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking. She has an extensive history of working for and collaborating with CSE victims throughout Georgia and various other states.  As a social worker, Melba’s expertise is in working with children and families, case management, and program & curriculum development.  Melba joined HavenATL with the Salvation Army as a Case Manager then transitioned to Program Director, where she overseers the development of the program, connects with partnering agencies to offer more resources for the women, and provides advocacy, and linkages for the girls and women who have survived commercial sexual exploitation.  Her vision for the girls and young women is to provide a safe environment for them where they can be empowered and begin to work on their journey of wholeness. 

Disclosure Statement: 

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

CE Hours

This course does not offer CE credits, just great content.

The same course is available for purchase and offers 1 CE hour for behavioral health clinicians.  See "related products" below.

This course is a non-interactive, online self-study.

Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.

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