Qualitative analysis of compassion satisfaction symptoms and experiences in speech therapists

Little to no research focused on understanding of compassion satisfaction among speech therapists, despite the demanding nature of their helping profession. Our aim was to examine how they experience compassion satisfaction and what factors they perceive as fostering or inhibiting it in their work. A convenience sample of seven female speech therapists was selected based on the availability criteria using the snowball method. The age of the speech therapists ranged from 24 to 35 years. Data were collected via online in-depth interviews with open-ended questions that prompted participants to share their experiences of compassion satisfaction. To analyze the data, consensual qualitative analysis was performed by a team of three researchers and one auditor. The results described the symptoms of compassion satisfaction and experiences contributing to compassion satisfaction and inhibiting the development of compassion satisfaction in the seven domains described by Figley: cognitive, emotional, behavioural, personal relationships, somatic, spiritual, and work performance. These findings provide a deeper understanding of speech therapists' experiences of compassion satisfaction and possible preconditions for the development of this desired state.