Abstract: Compassion fatigue (CF) is a peculiar mental health problem for the helpers (e.g., Psychotherapist, fire fighter and paramedic) who helped the traumatic client. The two-factor model of CF includes the secondary trauma (ST) and job burnout (JB), and the three-factor model of CF includes the compassion satisfaction (CS) besides the ST and JB. The clinical symptoms of CF are similar with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), ST, vicarious trauma (VT) and burnout, while none of them could represent CF. Empathy for others and indirect exposure to traumatic events are preconditions of CF which brings about compassion pressure and reduces the capacity and interest in being empathic. And the second traumatic symptoms and the feeling of job burnout are the consequences of CF. Simultaneously, the helper’s demographics (e.g., marital status, education background, years working and personal traumatic history), the degree of exposure to traumatic events and personal psychological resources would affect the generating course of CF.

Key words: helper, mental health, compassion fatigue