Thriving in the Face of Adversity: Increasing Emotional Intelligence to Decrease Compassion Fatigue

Format

Individual Presentation

Presenters

• Sara Newman, RISE Youth & Family ServicesFollow

First Presenter's Institution

RISE Youth & Family Services

First Presenter’s Email Address

saranewman@riseyafs.com

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Sara Newman is an experienced founder, consultant, trainer, and therapist with over 25 years in the mental health field. She leads a team of therapists, mentors, crisis stabilizers, and parent advocates dedicated to serving and empowering youth and families in the Milwaukee area and beyond. As a consultant, Sara draws on evidence-based strategies to guide individuals and organizations in policy and program development, including licensing and accreditation for community organizations, group homes, and residential facilities. As a trainer, she delivers engaging and impactful education across a wide range of topics, with expertise in suicide intervention, trauma-informed care, and therapeutic improvisation. Alongside her consulting and training, Sara remains deeply committed to providing therapy and professional coaching, ensuring her work continues to support growth and resilience on both personal and organizational levels.

Submitter

I am submitting this proposal as one of the presenter(s)

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Relevance

This proposal centers on the ‘heart’ strand as well as the family and community engagement component of the Youth Advocacy and Resiliency Conference. Serving clients who face challenges such as trauma, mental health issues, and poverty presents continual challenges and can contribute to provider burnout and elevated turnover rates. Such circumstances may undermine client stability and disrupt continuity of care. This workshop examines the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and compassion fatigue, equipping providers with strategies to enhance EI within themselves and their teams to more effectively navigate workplace challenges. The session’s exercises and skill-building are applicable to individual, group, and organizational contexts. Furthermore, both practical experience and research will be used to demonstrate how developing EI leads to improved outcomes for clients.

Brief Program Description

Compassion fatigue shows up as lowered employee retention, heightened exhaustion levels, disrupted well-being, and feelings of inadequacy. Strengthening emotional intelligence improves professional competency, fosters effective communication, and mitigates compassion fatigue, collectively supporting improved client outcomes and greater job satisfaction. The session offers targeted skill development at individual, team, and organizational levels, which may also be adapted to support the emotional intelligence of clients and families.

Summary

Working in the field of mental health can be rewarding and challenging due to the emotional work involved. We are frequently presented with clients facing challenges or adverse conditions such as trauma, poverty, community violence or significant mental health concerns. This work can be taxing for those who serve, often resulting in significant struggles for the one who does the work. Research indicates a clear link between emotional intelligence (EI) and compassion fatigue. Research also delineates a connection between compassion fatigue and client care. In this presentation, compassion fatigue as well as emotional intelligence will be explored and the connection between the two will be examined. Professionals with higher EI are better at recognizing and managing emotional exhaustion, setting boundaries, and seeking support when needed. Self-awareness helps caregivers note when their resources are low, while self-regulation aids stress management and reduces secondary trauma risk. Empathy can increase vulnerability to compassion fatigue, but EI encourages compassionate detachment. Social skills help build supportive networks and promote well-being. Those with high EI are more likely to practice self-care and coping strategies, whereas those with lower EI may struggle with emotion regulation and healthy relationships, raising their risk for compassion fatigue. Strategies and interventions will be offered which will teach participants how to increase their emotional intelligence for themselves, their teams, their organizations and their clients. These strategies will be interactive and engaging and provide the participants with tools to take back to their agencies. These efforts will ultimately improve client experience and outcomes and encourage employee retention and promote employee wellness.

Evidence

Research indicates a clear relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and compassion fatigue. Sanchez and Breso (2020) found that employees exhibiting higher levels of EI reported reduced exhaustion and cynicism, along with enhanced professional efficacy. Such individuals are less susceptible to the adverse effects associated with workplace burnout and are better able to sustain their performance. The authors highlight EI as a protective factor and emphasize the value of implementing intervention and educational initiatives within organizations to enhance employees' emotional intelligence.

Gutierrez and Mullen (2016) further established a direct connection between professional counselors’ experiences of compassion fatigue and subsequent client outcomes. Burnout can result in counselors de-personalizing their clients, thereby hindering the development of rapport—a critical component for positive client outcomes. Moreover, counselors experiencing burnout may inadvertently harm clients through diminished empathy or unprofessional conduct (Dyrbye et al., 2010). Counselors suffering from burnout also face increased risk of depressive symptoms, which may negatively impact those they serve. Ethically, counselors are required to demonstrate self-awareness, engage in reflective practices, exercise self-management and self-regulation, and continuously monitor for signs of burnout. These competencies are integral components of EI and can be developed through targeted training and skill-building. Gutierrez and Mullen advocate increasing EI as the most effective strategy for mitigating burnout.

Additional research is utilized that links improvisation to the development of emotional intelligence and executive functioning. Some of the strategies offered to enhance emotional intelligence will be pulled from this area of study and practice. (Fu, 2019) (Bayne & Jangha, 2016)

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to describe emotional intelligence (EI) and compassion fatigue, and explain their connection in care environments.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to recognize the impact of compassion fatigue on providers and client outcomes, and identify ways EI can help mitigate these effects.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to apply practical strategies to strengthen emotional intelligence for individuals, teams, and organizations to support well-being and continuity of care.

Keyword Descriptors

emotional intelligence, compassion fatigue, burnout, vicarious trauma, improvisation, client outcomes, professional development, mindfulness, leadership

Presentation Year

2026

Start Date

3-2-2026 10:15 AM

End Date

3-2-2026 11:30 AM

Recommended Citation

Newman, Sara, "Thriving in the Face of Adversity: Increasing Emotional Intelligence to Decrease Compassion Fatigue" (2026). National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference. 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2026/2026/2