    
Help
for the Helper:
The Psychophysiology of Compassion Fatigue and
Vicarious Trauma
by Babette Rothschild with Marjorie Rand
 Therapist
burnout is a pressing issue and self-care is
possible only when therapists actively help
themselves. Taking a frank assessment of the risks
involved in psychotherapy, such as compassion
fatigue and vicarious traumatization, Help for
the Helper challenges current thinking about the
ways in which therapists are affected by their
clients. The result is a new outlook upon the
therapeutic process that yields concrete strategies
for mental health professionals who want to maintain
their own mental health and overall well-being while
maximizing their competency with clients.
Based on
the latest neurobiological research and drawing from
the literature in social psychology and folk
psychology, Rothschild identifies three major
processes that can, when left unchecked, pose
enormous risks to a professional's well-being. The
most unexplored of these processes is empathy—a, if
not the, major tool of the helping
professions. Bridging the psychological and
neurophysiological gap, Rothschild expands the
concept of empathy by illuminating its heretofore
neglected body component. The second process is the
regulation of arousal in the professional.
Rothschild reviews the relevant theories on stress
and relaxation, applying it to the therapist in the
helping situation. Thirdly, drawing again on
neuroscience, Rothschild promotes the importance of
maintaining the ability to think clearly, even in
the most stressful of helping situations. Throughout
each chapter, case illustrations, supervision
transcripts, and easy-to-follow exercises will equip
readers with the tools necessary to identify and
mediate their own individual risk factors for
compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization and
burnout.
The
mind-body perspective of Help for the Helper
builds upon the foundation laid in the bestselling
The Body Remembers and furthered in The
Body Remembers Casebook. This perspective
captures the complex processes by which therapists
connect with and are connected to
their clients and leads the way to the means for
maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks of
those connections.
No
mental health professional can afford to ignore the
risks of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.
Help for the Helper is an essential resource for
all helping professionals who want to help their
clients while managing their exposure to burnout and
stress.
Babette Rothschild, MSW, LCSW,
has been practicing psychotherapy since 1976 and is
a member of the International Society for Traumatic
Stress Studies, the National Association of Social
Workers, and the United States Association for Body
Psychotherapy. She is also the author of The Body
Remembers: The Psychophysiology of Trauma and Trauma
Treatment and The Body Remembers CASEBOOK:
Unifying Methods and Models in the Treatment of
Trauma and PTSD. After living and working for
nine years in Denmark, she returned to her native
Los Angeles, where she maintains a private practice
while offering professional training, consultation,
and supervision throughout the world.
Advance
Acclaim
“With this book, Babette
Rothschild establishes herself as a preeminent
science writer, able to translate abstruse
scientific concepts into practical clinical advice
for helpers.”
—
Elaine Hatfield, Professor of Psychology, University
of Hawaii, and author of
Emotional Contagion
“Help
for the Helper is a gift to psychotherapists and
others who open their hearts and minds to the pain
of traumatized clients. It is the first publication
to integrate contemporary research on the
neurobiology of empathy into a broader understanding
of the origins of vicarious traumatization and
compassion fatigue. Babette Rothschild enlivens this
highly readable, scholarly overview of the research
with her conversational tone, clinical applications,
examples, and exercises for therapists who want to
address therapy’s negative effects on themselves.
The book will be a valuable resource for seasoned
clinicians and trainees alike, and provides guidance
for working with trauma survivors in a way that
enhances the therapist’s well-being while
contributing to the client’s recovery.”
—
Laurie Anne Pearlman, Ph.D., coauthor, Risking
Connection and Trauma
and the Therapist
“Babette
Rothschild has done a masterful job in laying out
important principles and strategies to avoid
compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout.
She integrates several core psychological concepts—countertransference,
projective identification, and empathy—with recent
research on mirror neurons, emotional contagion, and
neurobiology. Help for the Helper, so clearly
written and well organized, will benefit any
practitioner who wants to avoid the fatigue that
interferes with treatment of the people who are most
in need of our help. Reading this book, and
following the exercises Rothschild provides, will be
of value for both new and experienced therapists.”
—
Marion F. Solomon, Ph.D., is founder of the Lifespan
Learning Institute in Los Angeles and is author of
Narcissism and Intimacy and
Lean on Me
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