Empathy or Compassion: Which one can prevent Burnout?

Interview with Joel Klepac - Family & Marriage Therapist.

How can we create a space where we can fill both our needs and the needs of the people we care for? As givers, can we be present in other’s struggles without us actually being “in” it and feeling drained from it? In this episode of Renewal Conversations, our special guest, Joel Klepac, unpacks this and also the essential question: “Is there a difference between Empathy and Compassion? Can this make a difference in preventing Burnout?

Although as humans, we have different layers of needs, emotions, or thinking – there is one thing that remains constant at our core – which helps us regenerate!

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, he has a wealth of life and professional experience. He is currently working in a College Counseling Center in central Kentucky and has led workshops on appropriate empathy, honesty and collaboration within the church and at annual conferences for OCAMPR (Orthodox Christians Association in Medicine, Psychology and Religion) where he is currently a Board Member.

In this video, he shines light on empathic distress, compassion fatigue, and many other values we can all relate to as GIVERS.

ABOUT Joel Klepac:
🍵 Studied fine art painting at Asbury University
🍵 Held painting exhibits in a local art guild gallery in Romania and designed and created oil paintings for the community center chapel
🍵 Worked in Romania for 9 years with children at risk and youth living on the street
🍵 Worked in community mental health, a state psychiatric hospital and in a detention center setting providing psychotherapy and skills training
🍵 Became Eastern Orthodox while living and working in Romania and has been on the parish council at St. Andrew Antiochian Orthodox Church in Lexington, KY (where he also sings in the choir!)