ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the costs that result from being part of any caring human service organization; these emotional and sometimes physical costs come with the territory of being a helper in a helping profession. It reminds the reader that delivering critical services requires healthy and rested professionals who take care of those who have served in the military and their families. The chapter reviews numerous studies that document the positive and negative impact of working with the traumatized. It presents a strategy for addressing compassion fatigue - the fatigue that comes from helping others - and encourages resilience in providers to assure the highest standard of care for the traumatized and also enabling the professionals to live and thrive as human beings in their personal as well as work life. Behavioral health workers within a large agency and system are expected to work with the civilian sector, often charged with caring for the military.
