A comparison between counselors who practice meditation and those who do not on compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, burnout and self-compassion

One hundred sixty-four professional counselors completed an on-line survey that included the PRO-QOL (Professional Quality of Life Scale) and the SCS (Self-Compassion Scale). Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire that included length of meditation practice and other self-care practices. Results of a MANCOVA revealed that the meditation practice group (N=62) reported significantly higher levels self-compassion, while showing lower levels of burnout than their non-meditating peers (N=102) when controlling for Social Desirability. Further, the current study found that measures of self-compassion were positively associated with measures of compassion satisfaction ( r=0.387, p=0.01) and negatively associated with measures of burnout (r= -0.525, p=0.01) and compassion fatigue (r=-0.452, p=0.01). These results are congruent with the promising research that has been conducted on the relatively new construct of self-compassion, suggesting its utility and value to the growing fields of positive psychology and professional wellness. In addition, post hoc analyses (ANCOVA) revealed that self-care time was found to have a significant impact on compassion satisfaction, suggesting that individuals who practice more than 5 hours of self-care per week have higher levels of compassion satisfaction than their colleagues who reported less self-care time. Limitations included a convenience sample of participants (recruited from state associations and professional list serves) and a fairly stringent definition of meditation practice (at least 60 minutes per week, at least 6 months of practice). Implications for training and practice, which includes the responsibility of training programs to include formal instruction in self-care practices, are presented along with recommendations for future research.