Beschreibung:
Recognizing the growing numbers of family therapists who are choosing a focus on death, dying and bereavement, this article addresses the nature of the commitment required—as well as the gifts and challenges presented by work in this area. Particular attention is given to therapists' vulnerability to compassion fatigue and/or vicarious traumatization, both of which are described and discussed. A variety of strategies for individuals and institutions, aimed at supporting professionals and preventing problems, are considered. It is concluded that as family therapists focus on self‐care as well as client care, they have the potential to increase not only their effectiveness but also to enhance their own well‐being. Implications for training and for research on this topic also are considered.“For their is nothing heavier than compassion. Not even one's own pain weighs so heavy as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, a pain intensified by the imagination and prolonged by a hundred echoes.” (Kundera, 1999, p. 31)