EMPATHY AS A RESOURCE AND A RISK OF PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT IN SPECIAL EDUCATION SPECIALISTS

Abstract

This article examines the dual role of empathy in the professional activities of special education specialists, including remedial teachers, defectologists, speech therapists, and school psychologists. Empathy serves as a key professional competence, enabling effective interaction with children with special educational needs, accurately recognizing their emotional states, adapting corrective and educational strategies, and motivating children to engage in the learning process. At the same time, under conditions of prolonged emotional load, insufficient organizational support, high demands for professional involvement, and external stressors (military conflict, pandemic, mass trauma), empathy can transform into a risk factor, increasing the likelihood of emotional burnout and secondary traumatization. The article analyzes the psychological mechanisms of empathic fatigue, including the imbalance of affective and cognitive empathy, insufficient professional distance, and cumulative emotional stress, and examines organizational and individual moderators of empathy’s impact: supervision, self-regulation skills, resilience, and professional identity. Special attention is paid to the contextual factors of the contemporary Ukrainian environment, particularly the state of war and systemic transformations in education, which increase the emotional load on specialists. A multilevel system of preventive and corrective measures is proposed: at the individual level – development of emotional regulation and cognitive empathy skills; at the meso level – supervision and supportive peer groups; at the macro level – organizational policies regarding mental health, workforce planning, and crisis support for staff. The findings confirm that the effective combination of empathy development with mechanisms of psychological protection allows empathy to remain a professional resource while reducing the risk of emotional exhaustion among special education specialists.