Sacrificial Helping Syndrome: Preventing Compassion Fatigue and Burnout

Helpers are born, and they are made. An individual’s inherent qualities, shaped by their life experiences and early relationships, create an individual who is called to help. These individuals find value and meaning in helping and often go above and beyond for the people they help. Their reasons for becoming a helper interact with the prevalent societal expectation that helpers should sacrifice their well-being for those they serve.

In this two-hour continuing education web conference, Katie Vernoy, LMFT will explain how Sacrificial Helping Syndrome (SHS)--a classification she coined to describe helpers who sacrifice their own needs and well-being for others--can lead to burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma in clinicians and their clients. If unchecked, these can lead to much worse personal, professional, and societal outcomes. 

Katie will discuss causes and symptoms of SHS, so clinicians can identify these within themselves as well as the people they work with in therapy. Further, Katie will explore the clinical, legal, and ethical implications of therapists falling prey to self-sacrificing behaviors. Katie will also discuss tactics to combat burnout and vicarious traumatization, which are appropriate for clinicians as well as the people they work with in therapy.

This introductory instructional level web conference is designed to help clinicians:

1. Describe Sacrificial Helping Syndrome (SHS), including key causes, symptoms, and impacts on client care.
2. Explain burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and consequences related to SHS in clinicians and clients.
3. List three common negative outcomes of SHS, including clinical, ethical, and legal impacts on clients and their treatment outcomes.
4. Utilize four strategies to combat SHS and its common outcomes to ensure best practices with clients.
5. Design a plan for self-care and improved clinical practice.

If you have questions, please contact us here.

Continuing Education (CE) Information

2 CE contact hours will be provided by GoodTherapy for attending this web conference in its entirety. 

GoodTherapy is an Approved Education Provider by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals (provider #135463). Of the eight counselor skill groups ascribed to by NAADAC, this course is classified within Counseling Services. 

GoodTherapy is an NBCC-Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEPTM) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements.

GoodTherapy.org, provider #1352, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. GoodTherapy.org maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 3/30/2022 – 3/30/2025. Social workers completing this course receive 2 continuing education credits.

GoodTherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. GoodTherapy maintains responsibility for this program and its content. GoodTherapy.org received APA approval in May 2011. Events after 2011 may meet APA requirements for Continuing Education credits.

GoodTherapy, SW CPE 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 #0395.

GoodTherapy, 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-0022 and for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0031.

To receive CE credit hours for an archived event, you will need to complete a survey as well as a 12 or 15-question exam, verifying that you listened to or watched the event in its entirety. Archived CE events generally are considered "homestudy" by licensing boards.

Registration Information

Premium and Pro Membership with GoodTherapy includes access to this web conference at no additional cost, as well as other member benefits such as a profile listing in GoodTherapy's Therapist Directory. Not yet a member? Sign up for a Premium or Pro Membership, here.

Just want CE credits? Sign up for a monthly or annual CE Subscription with GoodTherapy to get unlimited access to our CE Program, including this event, other live CE web conferences, and hundreds of hours of homestudy courses.

Mental health professionals who are not members can attend this live web conference for $30.95 or access the homestudy recording for $15.50. Sign up here to purchase this CE course and earn a CE certificate.

If the event is canceled by GoodTherapy, registrants who purchased the event will be notified and the charge for the event will be refunded

If you have any questions or would like information regarding disability accommodations, please contact us.

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