TPC Journal-Vol 9- Issue 4-FULL ISSUE

280 The Professional Counselor | Volume 9, Issue 4 this article proposes that counselors may experience frustrations that contribute to GCF as a result of social media exposure to distressing global events, Dr. Holcomb-McCoy described social media as a tool for advocacy (Meyers, 2017), which may help in mitigating GCF. Such studies may assist counselors in delineating between GCF and other phenomena of impairment. Finally, greater research is needed to assess and measure GCF. No accurate measurement yet exists for the phenomenon of GCF. Compassion fatigue measurements assess the negative aspects of helping others through direct contact (Figley, 1996). For GCF, this does not address the negative aspects of compassion for indirect exposure to global events. The Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R; Weiss, 2007) measures the subjective distress associated with a traumatic event. However, the IES-R measures symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Although it captures the experience of an external global event, it does not capture the transient, yet profound, emotional experience of GCF. The answer to assessing GCF may lie in the development of an instrument that combines compassion fatigue assessments and the IES-R to measure GCF symptoms as it relates to global events. Conclusion This article introduces the concept of GCF into the counseling literature. By expanding the literature on other explanations of impairment, we broaden opportunities for self-awareness and professional development. Previously researched impairment concepts require an expansion into this new perspective by incorporating the effects of exposure to current events. This new phenomenon also contributes to counselor wellness research and the importance of maintaining a healthy wellness lifestyle as a deterrent to GCF. Adopting this concept and language into the literature on impairment and wellness encourages further consideration of counselor health, counselors’ management of distressing global events, and how this may impact both counselors and clients as humans. As counselors become competent in their roles as advocates for social justice, their involvement in critical global events necessitates attention to the cumulative toll such a role may entail. In addition, consistent exposure to emotionally debilitating global events through social media places counselors in a peculiar position in which they must balance their need to remain informed of events and their need to remain healthy and well. Counselors carry the extra responsibility of remaining present and empathic with their clients while also protecting the empathy they experience for the world around them. Counselors’ marginalized and impacted cultural identities also factor into their experiences of GCF. In this regard, wellness becomes not simply an ethical duty, but also a professional imperative in the interest of both counselor and client welfare. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript.