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.
This is a non-interactive self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a post-test.
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: Instructions for attending and completing a course can be found here.
Sarah Dooling, MSW, LCSW, RPT-S, 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.
Sven Legg, LPC, 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.
Dr. Kristy Holloway, EdD, LPC, NCC, BC-TMH, ACS, PMH-C, 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.
Melba Robinson, MSW, 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.
Credit Hours: The CE version of this course provides 1 continuing education hour of credit.
Counselors:
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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 this course would be accepted by your licensing board.
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:
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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:
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This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits, effective 2/23/2021. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programing.
Psychologists:
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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 activity 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.
This is a non-interactive, self-study course.
