Syeda Aleha Fatima
Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Pages: , 284-293
Counselling and psychotherapy are rewarding professions, but their sustained emotional
labour carries real psychological costs. This narrative review examines the principal
mental health challenges facing counsellors and mental health professionals (MHPs),
including burnout, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, ethical and emotional strain,
and the pressures of crisis work and work-life balance. Existing literature across nursing,
psychology, and counselling was synthesised to identify prevalence patterns,
contributing factors, and protective resources. Reported burnout prevalence varies widely
(2% to over 80%), depending on population and measurement tool, yet these conditions
consistently develop gradually, share overlapping symptoms, and arise from interacting
organisational, relational, and individual factors. Protective resources — clinical
supervision, self-compassion, core self-evaluation, mindfulness, peer support, and
organisational change — recur across otherwise disparate studies, suggesting shared
mechanisms of resilience. However, the literature is limited by inconsistent terminology,
overreliance on nursing and Western samples, and predominantly cross-sectional
designs that cannot establish causal direction. The review concludes that counsellor
wellbeing is not merely a private, individual matter but a professional and ethical one,
with direct implications for training curricula, supervisory practice, and the quality of
client care