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Abstract

The turnover rate of clinicians working in community outpatient mental health centers is alarming. The significant turnover at a community mental health organization prompted a study of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. An action research (AR) study was conducted using Price and Mueller’s (1981) causal model of turnover theory and a mixed methods approach to study the problem. The following research questions guided the study:1) What is learned at the individual, group, and system levels that advances theory and practice about organizational interventions aimed at decreasing the impact of professionals’ compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout in an outpatient community mental health organization? 2) What organizational culture and systemic factors affect the experiences of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma in clinicians working in outpatient mental health centers? The study’s findings indicated that for mental health clinicians working in community mental health outpatient centers, inclusion in their organization’s decision-making develops a growth mindset about organizational change and impacts clinicians’ perceptions of their value to their organization. In addition, AR methodology can effectively manage organizational politics, role duality, and the implementation of interventions to address burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. The findings indicated that navigating the complexities of a learning system requires teams to take risks, unlearn learned helplessness, shift perspectives, and execute change strategies. The study also found that a systemic culture of large caseloads, high numbers of acute clients, copious documentation, routinization, and long hours impacts clinicians’ turnover and experience of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.

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