Correctional Compassion Fatigue Is Real
Happy Sunday, Sunday Morning Coffeeites! Fall is here. Halloween? Check! The road to holiday season is before us. My October was packed. Every day with a deadline or an event or a road trip or the joy of visiting family. Life is busy, and add to that a career that maybe sucks the energy right out of you, and I know that some of you are feeling it. That’s who’s on my mind this morning.
Let’s just say it out loud: Working in a correctional facility can break your heart.
Not always. Not every day.
But often enough.
You watch people with so much potential throw it away—or have it stripped from them.
You pour energy into someone who vanishes overnight after a transfer.
You hear stories no one should have to carry.
You feel the weight of helping others change… while everything around you stays the same.
And somewhere along the line, something shifts. You’re not angry. Not depressed. Not even tired in the usual way. You’re just… numb. Detached. Drained.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Correctional compassion fatigue is real. And if we’re not careful, it’ll take us out of the work we love, or worse, turn us cold inside of it.
Compassion fatigue is what happens when the emotional cost of caring starts to outweigh your ability to cope. It’s the shadow cousin of burnout, and it shows up especially in environments like ours:
Constant exposure to trauma and grief
A culture of hypervigilance
High stakes, low resources
Emotional isolation (“leave it at the gate”)
You don’t have to be a therapist to feel it. Correctional teachers, officers, counselors, case managers, chaplains, program facilitators…we’re all vulnerable.
Because when you’re doing work that matters, it tends to matter a lot.
Warning Signs We Often Miss
Here are some red flags we often ignore (or normalize):
A growing sense of cynicism (“Why bother?”)
Emotional numbness or irritability
Detachment from students or colleagues
Trouble sleeping or constant exhaustion
Feeling helpless, hopeless, or ineffective
Using humor or sarcasm to mask pain
That quiet voice that says, “I don’t care like I used to…”
It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’ve been strong for too long without relief.
Here’s what I’ve learned personally and from colleagues who’ve lasted in this field and kept their soul intact:
1. Set Emotional Boundaries Without Becoming a Brick Wall
You can care without carrying. It’s okay to say, “That sounds like a lot. Have you talked to your counselor about it?” We can validate emotion without becoming the only container for it.
2. Lean on Colleagues Who Get It
You don’t have to do this work in isolation. Build your team. Vent safely. Debrief. Laugh together. Cry if you need to. A ten-minute hallway chat with someone who “gets it” can be more healing than a therapy session.
3. Invest in Replenishment—Not Just Rest
Sleep is great. So is taking a day off. But what really helps is replenishment: doing things that reconnect you to who you are outside of your role. Gardening. Music. Spiritual practice. Journaling. Art. Being around kids or animals or people who aren’t in crisis.
4. Get Trauma-Informed—For Yourself
We’re taught to approach our students with a trauma-informed lens. We need to do the same for ourselves. Your irritability might not be a personality flaw, it might be trauma residue. Your numbness might be a survival skill that’s overstayed its welcome.
5. Know When to Ask for Help
There’s no trophy for toughing it out. If the signs are stacking up, talk to someone. A counselor. A coach. Your supervisor. The work will always be there, but you might not if you don’t get support.
You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup
The students and residents we serve deserve compassion. So do we.
You are not selfish for needing care.
You are not weak for feeling overwhelmed.
You are not alone in this work.
The correctional system might be designed for containment, but your heart wasn’t. You’re allowed to feel. And you’re allowed to protect your ability to feel, so you can keep showing up in a way that’s healthy, sustainable, and real.
If you’re struggling with compassion fatigue or are looking to safeguard your team, here are some resources worth taking a look at:
“Trauma Stewardship” by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health → https://www.nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org
Secondary Traumatic Stress Toolkits, fact sheets, and articles by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Contact me for professional development opportunities for your team around preventing burnout or my virtual series on Wellbeing.
Your own HR/EAP program (yes, they exist even behind the fence. If you aren’t familiar with how to find yours, ask you HR department!)
Take care of yourself today. And if no one has told you lately: the work you do matters. But your wellbeing matters, too.
See you next Sunday! ☕
