Grief counseling and counseling are unthinkable without empathy and compassion. Nevertheless, professionals and volunteers repeatedly come across situations in which compassion is lacking or empathy triggers compassion. In order to stay mentally and physically healthy yourself and to support others in doing so, it is not only useful, but necessary to learn about ways that encourage appropriate compassion. Because compassion leads to excessive demands in the long term in contrast to compassion, which not only releases pleasant feelings in the other person, but also in oneself. Theoretical background to factors that limit compassion and generate compassion, as well as clear case studies from practice, form the basis to be able to develop the core competence "appropriate compassion" in social work.