> There is a fine line, too, as a T, between feeling your client's pain with them, and making it too much of your pain.

Yes, indeed there is.

I think that part of it is about being able to put those feelings away once one leaves the office. Basically... Emotion regulation. If a therapist doesn't have good emotion regulation then a therapist won't be able to sustain empathetic awareness of a clients negative emotions without burning out. This can lead to pulling back from clients (trying to change their negative emotion rather than just sitting with the client through them). This can lead to therapists not wanting to / not being able to work with clients who experience intensely negative emotions. This can lead to therapist burnout, yeah.

> ...it is impossible to carry every client's pain around with you without getting completely burnt out.

Yes indeed. In order to be able to be empathetically attuned to every client's pain one needs to be able to refocus on other things instead of carrying that pain around with you 24/7.

I don't think that there are many therapists in the world who have good emotion regulation skills. I probably bring out the 'worst' in them because my emotions are so intense. But in my experience the majority of therapists try and change me because they can't bear to sit with me in my pain / distress. Because... It brings up stuff for them and they can't switch off.