Compassion Fatigue Assessment
A detailed private Backing U self-assessment designed to help you reflect on strain associated with sustained caring or helping roles, including emotional depletion, secondary stress, boundary erosion and reduced professional capacity. It looks across feeling emotionally depleted by other people's distress, carrying clients' or other people's stories outside the helping role, reduced empathy, patience or emotional availability, difficulty maintaining professional or personal boundaries and changes in sleep, mood or functioning after repeated exposure to distress. The assessment contains 20 questions and is intended to give you a structured wellbeing snapshot, highlight the areas having the greatest effect, and provide practical recommendations for what to do next. It is not designed to diagnose a condition or replace an individual professional assessment.
The Compassion Fatigue Assessment is a Backing U educational wellbeing and self-reflection tool. It is not a validated diagnostic instrument, does not provide a clinical diagnosis and does not replace individual assessment or advice from a qualified professional. Scores are influenced by how questions are understood and by the timeframe selected. If several items are marked N/A, the total may be lower and should be interpreted cautiously; individual responses may be more informative than the total score. If difficulties are severe, rapidly worsening, affecting basic functioning or creating safety concerns, seek appropriate professional or urgent support. External resources are provided for further reading and support only. They are operated by independent Australian or UK organisations and their inclusion does not imply endorsement of this Backing U tool.
I have noticed feeling emotionally depleted by other people's distress.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Feeling emotionally depleted by other people's distress has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Feeling emotionally depleted by other people's distress has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of feeling emotionally depleted by other people's distress.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have noticed carrying clients' or other people's stories outside the helping role.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Carrying clients' or other people's stories outside the helping role has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Carrying clients' or other people's stories outside the helping role has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of carrying clients' or other people's stories outside the helping role.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have noticed reduced empathy, patience or emotional availability.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Reduced empathy, patience or emotional availability has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Reduced empathy, patience or emotional availability has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of reduced empathy, patience or emotional availability.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have noticed difficulty maintaining professional or personal boundaries.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Difficulty maintaining professional or personal boundaries has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Difficulty maintaining professional or personal boundaries has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of difficulty maintaining professional or personal boundaries.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have noticed changes in sleep, mood or functioning after repeated exposure to distress.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Changes in sleep, mood or functioning after repeated exposure to distress has been difficult to ignore, switch off or manage once it starts.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Changes in sleep, mood or functioning after repeated exposure to distress has affected my concentration, mood, sleep, relationships, responsibilities or usual routine.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
I have changed, delayed, avoided or pushed through things because of changes in sleep, mood or functioning after repeated exposure to distress.
Choose 0 if this has not applied and 10 if it has applied extremely strongly, frequently or consistently during the stated timeframe. Use N/A only if the question is genuinely not relevant.
Keep or share a copy of your result
You can email a copy of this result to yourself. You can separately choose whether Backing U may receive an anonymous copy of your responses and result for quality improvement and research.
The Compassion Fatigue Assessment is a Backing U educational wellbeing and self-reflection tool. It is not a validated diagnostic instrument, does not provide a clinical diagnosis and does not replace individual assessment or advice from a qualified professional. Scores are influenced by how questions are understood and by the timeframe selected. If several items are marked N/A, the total may be lower and should be interpreted cautiously; individual responses may be more informative than the total score. If difficulties are severe, rapidly worsening, affecting basic functioning or creating safety concerns, seek appropriate professional or urgent support. External resources are provided for further reading and support only. They are operated by independent Australian or UK organisations and their inclusion does not imply endorsement of this Backing U tool.