Compassion Fatigue/Satisfaction Self-Test for Helpers (CFS):
Helping others brings you in direct contact with the lives of other individuals. As you are
surely aware, your compassion for the individuals you assist has both positive and negative
consequences. This self-test estimates your compassion status: how vulnerable you are to
burnout and compassion fatigue, as well as your level of satisfaction with helping others.
Consider each of the following aspects of yourself and your current situation. Fill in the
blanks with a pen or pencil with the number that accurately reflects how frequently you
experienced these traits in the previous week.
0=Never 1=Rarely 2=A Few Times 3=Somewhat Often 4=Often 5=Very Often
Items About You
______ 1. I am happy.
______ 2. I find my life satisfying
. ______3. I have beliefs that sustain me.
______ 4. I feel estranged from others.
______ 5. I find that I learn new things from those I care for
______ 6. I force myself avoiding certain activities or situations because they remind me of a
frightening experience.
______ 7. I find myself to avoid certain thoughts or feelings that remind me of a frightening
experience.
______8. I have gaps in my memory about frightening events.
______ 9. I feel connected to others.
______ 10. I feel calm
______ 11. I believe that I have a good balance between my work and my free time
_____ 12. I have difficulty falling or staying asleep.
_____ 13. I have outburst of anger or irritability with little provocation.
_____ 14. I am the person I always wanted to be.
_____ 15. I startle easily.
_____ 16. While working with a victim, I thought about violence against the perpetrator.
____ 17. I am a sensitive person.
____. 18. I have flashbacks connected to those I help.
_____. 19. I have good peer support when I need to work through a highly stressful
experience.
_____. 20. I have had first-hand experience with traumatic events in my adult life.
_____ 21. I have had first-hand experience with traumatic events in my childhood.
_____ 22. I think that I need to “work through” a traumatic experience in my life.
_____ 23. I think that I need more close friends.
_____ 24. I think that there is no one to talk with about high
_____. 25. I have concluded that I work too hard for my own good.
____. 26. Working with those I help brings me a great deal of satisfaction.
_____ 27. I feel invigorated after working with those I help.
____ 28. I am frightened of things a person I helped has said or done to me.
_____ 29. I experience troubling dreams similar to those I help.
_____. 30. I have happy thoughts about those I help and how I could help them.
_____. 31. I have experienced intrusive thoughts of times with especially difficult people I
helped.
_____.32. I have suddenly and involuntarily recalled a frightening experience while working
with a person I helped.
_____. 33. I am pre-occupied with more than one person I help.
_____. 34. I am losing sleep over a person I help’s traumatic experiences.
______35. I have joyful feelings about how I can help the victims I work with.
____. 36. I think that I might have been “infected” by the traumatic stress of those I help.
______37. I think that I might be positively “inoculated” by the traumatic stress of those I
help.
______38. I remind myself to be less concerned about the well-being of those I help.
______ 39. I have felt trapped by my work as a helper.
_____. 40.I have a sense of hopelessness associated with working with those I help.
____. 41. I have felt “on edge” about various things and I attribute this to working with
certain people I help.
_____. 42. I wish that I could avoid working with some people I help.
_____ 43. Some people I help are particularly enjoyable to work with.
_____. 44. I have been in danger working with people I help.
_____. 45. I feel that some people I help dislike me personally. Items About Being a Helper
and Your Helping Environment
____. 46. I like my work as a helper.
____. 47. I feel like I have the tools and resources that I need to do my work as a helper.
____. 48. I have felt weak, tired, run down as a result of my work as a helper.
____ 49. I have felt depressed as a result of my work as a helper.
____. 50. I have thoughts that I am a “success” as a helper.
____. 51. I am unsuccessful at separating helping from personal life.
____ 52. I enjoy my co-workers.
____ 53. I depend on my co-workers to help me when I need it.
____. 54. My co-workers can depend on me for help when they need it.
____. 55. I trust my co-workers.
____. 56. I feel little compassion toward most of my co-workers.
____ 57. I am pleased with how I am able to keep up with helping technology.
____ 58. I feel I am working more for the money/prestige than for personal fulfilment.
____. 59. Although I have to do paperwork that I don’t like, I still have time to work with
those I help.
____ 60. I find it difficult separating my personal life from my helper life.
____. 61. I am pleased with how I am able to keep up with helping techniques and
protocols.
____. 62. I have a sense of worthlessness/disillusionment/resentment associated with my
role as a helper.
____ 63. I have thoughts that I am a “failure” as a helper.
____. 64. I have thoughts that I am not succeeding at achieving my life goals.
____. 65. I have to deal with bureaucratic, unimportant tasks in my work as a helper.
____ 66. I plan to be a helper for a long time.
