Avoiding Empathy Burnout

For years I struggled with burnout as a result of my emotional capacity for feeling empathy.

I was exhausted.

Any time someone expressed sadness, frustration, hopelessness or a myriad of other emotions around their circumstances, I was invested emotionally right along with them. How is it that this benchmark of emotional intelligence was creating havoc in my own life?

Over time, I learned that not all empathy is good. Not all empathy is healthy. There are different types of empathy and because I can easily empathize with others, I have…