7 TPC Digest Concern around the burnout of mental health counselors is often discussed within our profession, yet we know very little about personal factors that may contribute to compassion satisfaction or burnout. Although some studies have looked at potential causes for burnout, such as institutional structure or the number of clients on one’s caseload, few studies have examined the counselor’s own personal history and how it may contribute to burnout. Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have examined what the Centers for Disease Control calls adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Researchers have found significant relationships between those who experience high numbers of ACEs and symptoms such as depression, anxiety, addiction, and suicidality well into adulthood. Over the past 10 years, researchers have also discovered protective factors, called positive childhood experiences (PCEs), that help lessen the mental and emotional harm that may result from ACEs. The authors of this article found no previous studies that examined a potential relationship between mental health counselors’ own history of ACEs and PCEs and the likelihood that they may experience burnout. In this article, we examined the rates of ACEs of a national sample of clinical mental health counselors; their rates of PCEs; and their experiences of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. We found that the number of ACEs did predict the likelihood of burnout and compassion satisfaction and that having more PCEs decreased the chances that one would suffer from burnout. Furthermore, we found that demographic factors such as race and gender were significant with regard to which counselors were more likely to experience compassion satisfaction and burnout. We believe that by being equipped with this knowledge, counselors, supervisors, and counselor educators can become more aware of which counselors may need to engage in more self-care practices to bolster professional resilience 7 | TPC Digest Eric M. Brown, PhD, LPC, is an assistant professor at DePaul University. Kristy L. Carlisle, PhD, is an assistant professor at Old Dominion University. Melanie Burgess, PhD, is an assistant professor at the University of Memphis. Jacob Clark, BS, is a graduate student at Old Dominion University. Ariel Hutcheon, MA, is a doctoral student at Old Dominion University. Correspondence may be addressed to Eric M. Brown, 2247 N. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60614, ebrow107@depaul.edu.
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