How do I protect myself from absorbing so much conflict and pain at work?

You spend your days in the middle of divorce and custody fights, standing right in the crossfire of people at their angriest and most heartbroken. Taking in that much conflict and pain is already starting to wear on you, and you can feel it. That is not you being too sensitive. That is the natural effect of absorbing emotions no one is built to soak up endlessly. You are like a sponge in this work, and a sponge that never gets wrung out just stays heavy and sour. So you have to wring it out on purpose. Find a way to release what you take in, movement, talking to someone who understands, a real break between the hardest cases. And practice reminding yourself, in the middle of the storm, that the conflict belongs to them, not to you. You are there to help, not to carry their war home in your chest. Build the habit of protecting yourself early, now, before the wear becomes burnout, because it is far easier to keep a boundary than to rebuild after you have none left. Care about your clients, do the work well, and still keep a clear line between their pain and your own peace. You can be good at this for a long time, but only if you guard the person doing it.