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Supporting Yourself While Supporting Others: Navigating Burnout and Compassion Fatigue 

Over the years, we’ve heard from SMART Recovery facilitators across the country about what helps them stay engaged, balanced, and effective over time, and about what happens when the role starts to feel heavier than it used to.

Facilitating a SMART Recovery meeting can be meaningful and rewarding. It can also be demanding. If you’ve ever felt stretched thin, less energized, or unsure how long you can keep going at your current pace, you’re not alone. These experiences are common, and they don’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

The reflections and strategies below are drawn from what facilitators have shared with us over time. They’re offered as support and as reminders that taking care of yourself is part of sustaining SMART Recovery meetings.

Burnout and Compassion Fatigue: Signals, Not Failures

Burnout and compassion fatigue are closely related. Burnout often shows up as exhaustion, reduced motivation, or feeling overwhelmed by responsibilities. Compassion fatigue can develop when you’re consistently supporting others through distress, change, or crisis and begin to feel emotionally worn down or numb.

Neither means you lack empathy, commitment, or skill. In fact, many facilitators experience compassion fatigue because they care deeply and show up consistently for others.

Facilitators have told us that recognizing these signs early and responding with curiosity instead of self-judgment helped them make changes that allowed them to continue facilitating in healthier, more sustainable ways.

Reflecting on Your Experience

Pausing to check in with yourself can help you notice patterns and decide what support might look like right now. You might consider:

  • How does facilitating feel for me lately? What feels meaningful, and what feels draining?

  • After meetings, do I feel connected and grounded, or emotionally depleted?

  • Have I noticed changes in my patience, empathy, or energy?

  • What helps me restore a sense of balance, even in small ways?

Taking a moment to check in with yourself can bring clarity about what’s energizing, what’s draining, and how you might support yourself more intentionally.

Self-Compassion Supports Sustainability

SMART Recovery emphasizes empowerment, self-management, and respect ,and those values apply to facilitators too. Many facilitators have shared that giving themselves permission to rest, adjust, or ask for help made it more likely they would stay involved long-term.

Needing support, taking breaks, or changing your level of involvement doesn’t mean you’re letting anyone down. It means you’re responding thoughtfully to your own needs.

Boundaries Help Meetings Thrive

Clear boundaries are one of the most effective tools facilitators use to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue. Boundaries protect your time, emotional energy, and focus so you can show up with intention.

You might reflect on:

  • Where do I feel overextended right now?

  • Are there responsibilities I’ve taken on automatically, without checking in with myself?

  • What would a sustainable level of involvement look like at this point in my life?

For many facilitators, boundaries include sharing facilitation, taking time off, or stepping back from additional roles when needed.

Small Actions That Help Restore Energy

Facilitators have shared many practical ways to recharge and reset, including:

  • Taking a few moments before or after meetings to breathe, ground themselves, or decompress

  • Talking openly with other facilitators about challenges and successes

  • Making time for activities that bring rest, perspective, or enjoyment outside of facilitating

These are the same kinds of self-management tools we encourage participants to explore, and they matter just as much for facilitators.

Stay Connected to Support and Training

Connection helps reduce isolation and normalize challenges. Many facilitators find it helpful to reconnect through refresher trainings, facilitator support meetings, and peer spaces.

We offer several opportunities designed to support facilitators, including:

  • Join a live SMART Training and Support Session. Click here to sign up.

  • S4V 4-Point SMART Recovery meetings for active volunteers

  • Volunteer Support Coordinators are here to listen and support you.

Your Well-Being Matters

SMART Recovery meetings make a real difference in people’s lives. At the same time, meetings are most sustainable when facilitators feel supported, balanced, and empowered.

Taking care of yourself helps ensure meetings remain welcoming, consistent, and available — now and into the future.

You’re Not Alone

Facilitators across the country have shared that acknowledging burnout and compassion fatigue, setting boundaries, and staying connected to support helped them continue facilitating in ways that felt aligned with their values and their lives.

If you’re feeling stretched or unsure, you’re not alone and you don’t have to figure it out by yourself. Support is available, and flexibility is part of what makes SMART Recovery work.