The conversation below has been edited for length and clarity.

What is compassion fatigue, and how can we combat it?

Compassion fatigue is when a person who wants to and has been trying to help address a problem, which in this case could be homelessness, begins to personalize and experience the distress of those they are trying to help. It is a form of what we would call a “secondary trauma,” and can result in people being less “present” and able to help others.

People in homeless services may be especially susceptible when the problem is prolonged and best efforts to help don’t yield satisfactory results.

While there’s not a lot of research on how best to address it, there are plenty of best practices that in different ways emphasize being kind to yourself. Of course, there may also be collective compassion fatigue, which can occur when the public is invested in trying to help address homelessness but don’t see the problem getting better.

Image Benjamin Henwood Credit... Tracy Bouian + David Ahntholz

Why do you think people can so easily turn away from the sight of human suffering?

I think it is self-protective. All of us are trying to “make it” in this world and the amount of human suffering out there can be overwhelming. I think we rationalize that since we can’t solve a problem on our own then it isn’t worth addressing the problem and we instead focus on the things we can and need to attend to in our own lives. This is faulty logic. We can help ease human suffering each and every day by taking the time to care about and relate to others.