affective empathy

Jane sat slumped in the hallway, her scrubs stained and her eyes glassy. “I used to care,” she whispered, “but now I just want to quit.” After years as a trauma nurse, Jane’s empathy had turned into exhaustion. She felt everything—every family’s panic, every patient’s grief—but she no longer had the space to respond skillfully.

“Is this what compassion fatigue is?” Jane asked. What she didn’t know was that it wasn’t compassion that had drained her—it was empathy without spaciousness. It was care without clarity. What Jane was missing wasn’t more emotional fuel—it was wisdom.

In an era marked by chronic distraction, DOWNLOAD PDF