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Behavior:
Client presented to the session appearing drained and reported feeling numb, stating, "I just don't have anything left to give." Client expressed concern about no longer caring as much as she used to and described feeling irritable with her family and dreading work, despite previously loving her job. Client reported feeling guilty, as though she is failing the people she is supposed to help.
Intervention:
The session lasted 50 minutes and took place in-office. The therapist discussed the concept of compassion fatigue and validated the client's experiences of emotional numbness, irritability, and dread as signs of system overload rather than personal failure. The therapist collaborated with the client to begin building a recovery plan, focusing on boundaries, reconnection, and peer support.
Response:
Client appeared relieved and expressed that she had been carrying shame about her experiences. She acknowledged the importance of addressing these issues and expressed a sense of validation and permission to acknowledge the difficulty of her situation. Client engaged actively in the discussion and agreed to implement aspects of the recovery plan.
Plan:
Client was assigned homework to implement one boundary and one reconnection activity this week. The next session is scheduled for next week, where progress on the recovery plan will be reviewed and further development of the plan may take place.
Today's session was 50 minutes, in-office. Keisha came in looking completely drained and said she's been feeling numb lately, like she just doesn't have anything left to give. She's a social worker, and she said quote 'I used to care so much, but now I just feel nothing, and it scares me' unquote. She described how she's been feeling irritable, especially with her family, and she's started dreading going to work even though she used to love her job. She said she feels guilty about it, like she's failing the people she's supposed to help.
We talked about compassion fatigue and how it's a real thing, especially for people in caregiving and helping roles who are exposed to other people's suffering over and over. I validated that the emotional numbness, the irritability, the dread, those are all signs that her system is overloaded and trying to protect her. It's not a personal failure, it's what happens when you give and give without enough time to recover. She seemed relieved to hear that, like she'd been carrying a lot of shame about it and finally had permission to acknowledge how hard it's been.
We started building a recovery plan together. First, boundaries, she agreed to stop checking work emails after 6 p.m. and to actually take her lunch breaks instead of working through them. Second, reconnection, we talked about activities that used to fill her up, like painting and spending time with her sister, and how she's let those slip. Third, peer support, I suggested she look into a consultation group or peer support space where she can process some of the hard cases with people who get it. Her homework is to pick one boundary and one reconnection activity to try this week. She said she didn't realize how much she needed this. We'll meet again next week to see how the recovery plan is going and keep building it out.
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