I wouldn’t use compassionate myself, understanding yes but not really compassionate. As much as I love my sister and wanted to help her, I had to walk away for 3 years. No calls, no visits, nothing until someone told me she had been clean and sober for a year. Then I visited her and have limited contact with her today. I can be understanding, no problem. Compassionate sounds like I want to be taken advantage of, it’s not in my dictionary of everyday useable words.