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Secondary Trauma: How Working with Trauma Survivors Affects Therapists
Abstract
Secondary trauma, a relatively recent topic that has emerged in the field of social work, includes the emotional and psychological effects that working with traumatized clients has on therapists. Secondary trauma can seriously impact therapists' personal and professional well-being. Trauma therapists face major ethical dilemmas if their reactions to being traumatized enter into the therapeutic relationship, exposing clients to psychological harm or possibly re-traumatization. As many graduate programs in social work and social service agencies are still unaware of this phenomenon, recommendations are made for how to introduce the topic as priority and how to cope with and prevent secondary trauma.
... STS is at the very least more likely to be an issue for professions that offer direct therapeutic support to clients -given how it is a phenomenon that occurs as a consequence of helping others (Elwood et al., 2011). Research has identified that once practitioners have an awareness of ST, it is possible to manage the negative consequences with various strategies, such as physical and psychological self-care, personal psychotherapy, limiting exposure to traumatized clients, and professional supports such as supervision (Hesse, 2002). ...
... Psychologists were found to have the highest utilization of coping strategies when compared to other health professionals (Manning-Jones et al.) which might explain why psychologists are generally presenting with sub-threshold STS. Psychologists outlined strategies that they successfully implemented to manage the COI, such as limiting the number of clients with particular traumas on their caseloads (Merriman & Joseph, 2018), which are strategies that have previously been found to be helpful in managing ST (Hesse, 2002). ...
... Psychologists not working with trauma do not appear to be an atrisk group for the COI. Psychologists can minimize the negative effects of working with trauma by implementing strategies that have proven to be helpful, such as engaging in regular self-care and supervision (Hesse, 2002). The findings can likely be generalized to other professions with similar roles to psychologists, as many of the identified risk factors were not specific to psychologists, but rather to practitioners working with trauma. ...
Secondary trauma, which is also often referred to as secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumatization, and compassion fatigue are the negative consequences that occur when an individual hears about the traumatic experiences of another person. Certain professions who are exposed to hearing about traumatic experiences are at an increased risk of these difficulties. Psychologists are one such group, and the aim of the current systematic review was to investigate the prevalence of and variables associated with these concepts in psychologists. The following databases were searched as part of the review: PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science. Inclusion criteria required that psychologists were qualified and involved in therapeutic work. Eight articles were extracted for narrative synthesis. The articles indicated that psychologists are not typically meeting the clinical threshold for the various concepts of interest, although a single representative figure could not be determined for this cohort. Potential reasons for this are discussed. An exception to this finding was observed for psychologists working directly with trauma, as difficulties resulting from the concepts of interest were indicated within this cohort. A key finding was the paucity of research that exists on this topic. Limitations and implications of the findings are outlined.
... Since as early as biblical times, literature has pointed toward the potential negative consequences of working with distressed and/or traumatized individuals, often using labels of "compassion fatigue" and "secondary trauma" [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. These consequences have been conceptualized across risk and protective domains, eluding to both the positive and/or adverse outcomes that can be associated with secondary exposure to trauma [1,[16][17][18]. While evidence exists for the potential protective components of working in helping professions, large portions of research have expanded our awareness of possible adverse effects including the prevalence of helping professionals to experience trauma-related symptomology [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. ...
... While evidence exists for the potential protective components of working in helping professions, large portions of research have expanded our awareness of possible adverse effects including the prevalence of helping professionals to experience trauma-related symptomology [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These symptoms often mirror the unwanted symptoms of their clients/patients, including intrusive thoughts/images and physiological changes in brain and other organ systems [2,3,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]]. ...
... Multiple terms, including vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue, have been used to describe the adverse responses to exposure to the suffering of others [1][2][3][15][16][17][18]. These terms often reflect the historical, cultural, and/or contextual factors prevalent during the time of their conceptualization and have been debated by experts across multiple disciplines for their clinical, cultural, and/or political relevance [1]. ...
The complex interactions between empathy and vulnerability amongst those in helping professions/roles have been explored by practitioners and researchers across multiple disciplines for decades. While these explorations have spurred interest and awareness in the unique risks and protective factors of helping professions/roles, they have also resulted in myriad competing, overlapping, and/or parallel definitions, conceptualizations, terminology, and etiological attributions of adverse impacts of secondary exposure to others’ suffering. In this conceptual review, we will follow the historical origins of this phenomenon, beginning with the early 1900s with the First World War and the works of early psychiatric clinicians and moving toward recent advances in understanding etiology and conceptualization. Finally, we will provide support for the use and additional research of a proposed unifying and comprehensive conceptualization term: compassion stress injury (CSI), based on a mind-body and de-stigmatizing framework.
... Those who care for survivors can have any of these reactions. Burnout and countertransference are, however, related more to work or personal experience than to trauma witnessed as we work with survivors (Hesse, 2002). ...
... themselves, re-experiencing the event and becoming numb and avoidant when reminded of what the survivor experienced (Figley, 2002). Those with secondary traumatic stress have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) just as survivors do (Hesse, 2002). Unlike secondary traumatic stress, which can occur after one interacts with a survivor, vicarious traumatization results from exposure over time to multiple survivors. ...
... This is one of the pitfalls of intimacy with survivors. Survivor therapists care about their survivor clients; at times, this leads to enmeshment as they inappropriately tell them what to do or try to increase the depth of their connection, leading to inappropriate exchanges and boundary violations (Hesse, 2002). Without appropriate boundaries, other disruptions to the therapeutic relationship can occur . ...
... Los encuentros terapéuticos intensos pueden causar angustia psicológica y fomentar niveles de DpE entre los profesionales que proporcionan apoyo (Adams, Matto, y Harrington, 2001;Gil y Weinberg, 2015;Hesse, 2002). En la reciente investigación realizada por Gil y Weinberg (2015) los resultados proporcionaron evidencias sobre la importancia de dirigir la atención hacia el apoyo de los profesionales de la relación de ayuda con estrategias de afrontamiento y recursos internos para hacer frente al DpE. ...
... Las historias de trauma o dolor no resueltas en la vida del profesional no son un prerrequisito para desarrollar DpE (Hesse, 2002), sin embargo, los estudios demuestran una correlación directa entre el pasado del profesional y el desarrollo del síndrome (Bourassa, 2009;Jenkins y Baird, 2002;Nelson-Gardell y Harris, 2003). Investigaciones como las de Nelson-Gardell y Harris (2003) Collins y Long (2003) afirman que un solo episodio de exposición a un evento traumático por parte del trabajador/a social puede generar DpE. ...
... Dagan, Ben-Porat, y Itzhaky, 2016;Nelson-Gardell y Harris, 2003;Sprang, Clark, y Whitt-Woosley, 2007) Historias de trauma no resueltas en la vida del profesional (Bourassa, 2009;S. Dagan et al., 2016;Hesse, 2002;Simon, Pryce, Roff, y Klemmack, 2005; Thieleman y Cacciatore, 2014) Altos niveles de carga de trabajo (Badger et al., 2008;K. Dagan, Itzhaky, y Ben-Porat, 2015) Altas horas de exposición al dolor ajeno (Boscarino et al., 2004;Bourassa, 2009;Brady et al., 1999;Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, y Figley, 2004;Figley, 2002;Gil y Weinberg, 2015;Hyman, 2004) Insuficientes prácticas de supervisión (Adams et al., 2001;Gil y Weinberg, 2015) Identificación con los clientes (Gil y Weinberg, 2015) Tabla 6 Factores de protección del Desgaste por Empatía en trabajadores/as sociales Altos niveles de Satisfacción por Compasión (Butler, Carello, y Maguin, 2017;Caringi et al., 2017;Itzick, Kagan, y Ben-Ezra, 2018;Pelon, 2017;Ray, Wong, White, y Heaslip, 2013;Slocum-Gori, Hemsworth, Chan, Carson, y Kazanjian, 2013;Thieleman y Cacciatore, 2014) Llevar a cabo prácticas de autocuidado de forma frecuente (Ahern, Sadler, Lamb, y Gariglietti, 2016;Brown et al., 2017;Butler et al., 2017;Choi, 2011;S. ...
El Desgaste por Empatía, también conocido como Fatiga por Compasión, es la consecuencia natural derivada de trabajar con personas que sufren. Se ha demostrado que establecer vínculos y relaciones terapéuticas con personas y/o familias que experimentan situaciones traumáticas o doloras puede tener consecuencias sobre el profesional que ofrece su apoyo. Los y las trabajadores/as sociales están expuestos a la escucha de las historias de trauma, angustia y dolor que narran los clientes y las familias con los que trabajan. La aceptación, el respeto y la individualización, criterios y valores que rigen la práctica del Trabajo Social de Casos, solo pueden llevarse a cabo a través del establecimiento de una alianza terapéutica sincera y una actitud empática por parte del/de la trabajador/a social hacia la experiencia de los clientes y familias.
La presente investigación parte de la necesidad de conocer las consecuencias derivadas de trabajar con el sufrimiento humano en la profesión del Trabajo Social. Uno de los objetivos principales de la investigación es conocer la prevalencia del Desgaste por Empatía en los/as trabajadores/as sociales de los Centros de Servicios Sociales de Mallorca. Otros objetivos consisten en analizar si las prácticas de autocuidado personales o profesionales son útiles para reducir el riesgo de Desgaste por Empatía y conocer si existe relación entre el Desgaste por Empatía y las diferentes dimensiones de la Empatía (Fantasía, Toma de Perspectiva, Malestar Personal y Preocupación Empática) o la Involucración Profesional y la Vulnerabilidad.
La presente investigación consiste en un estudio transversal cuantitativo. Una muestra de 270 trabajadores/as sociales de casos que ejercen en Mallorca han completado un cuestionario compuesto por cinco escalas: un cuestionario sociodemográfico que incluye tanto aspectos personales como profesionales; la Escala de autocuidado (EAP), el Inventario sobre Calidad de Vida Profesional (ProQOL), la escala de Desgaste por Empatía (IDE) y el Índice de Reactividad Interpersonal (IRI). El tratamiento de los datos se realizó con el programa estadístico SPSS.
Los resultados de la investigación indican que un tercio de los/as trabajadores sociales encuestados se sitúan en niveles de riesgo altos de Desgaste por Empatía. El autocuidado y la Satisfacción por Compasión han obtenido relaciones significativas inversas respecto a la dimensión del Desgaste por Empatía. Los hallazgos también indican la existencia de relación significativa positiva entre los niveles de Empatía y los niveles de Desgaste por Empatía. En el modelo de regresión lineal se observa que variables como la Vulnerabilidad, la Preocupación Empática, el Cuidado Personal, la pérdida de sueño, el sentirse atrapado en el trabajo o la concepción sobre la sensibilidad son variables predictoras del Desgaste por Empatía.
Los hallazgos de la investigación avalan la importancia de continuar estudiando el fenómeno del desgaste en la práctica del Trabajo Social e implantar programas formativos y de prevención sobre el Síndrome del Desgaste por Empatía tanto en la comunidad universitaria como en los Centros de Servicios Sociales públicos y privados.
... While these terms are often used interchangeably, STS and vicarious trauma are generally understood as "the natural consequent behaviours and emotions resulting from knowing about a traumatizing event experienced by a significant otherthe stress resulting from helping or wanting to help the traumatized or suffering person" (Figley, 1995, p. xiv). Researchers have noted that while there is overlap between STS and vicarious trauma, STS specifically involves exposure to emotionally difficult images and descriptions of suffering and involved patterns of re-experiencing individuals' trauma (Heese, 2002). In this chapter, we will focus on STS. ...
... There are also risk factors for STS: women are at a higher risk of STS due to typically scoring higher on measures of empathy, emotional cognition, and histories of interpersonal trauma (Baum et al., 2014), and individuals with histories of trauma are also at greater risk of STS (Bell, 2003). Repeated exposure to participants' sensitive and traumatic experiences can further contribute to researcher STS (Heese, 2002). STS can also have a negative impact on one's career, leading to burnout and dissatisfaction, detachment from participants to avoid retraumatization, and seeking to take control of participants' wellbeing (Collins & Long, 2003). ...
... Skema ini meliputi sejumlah keyakinan (beliefs), asumsi, dan harapan tentang diri dan dunia serta membantu individu untuk memaknai keduanya. McCann dan Pearlman (Hesse, 2002) membuat hipotesis bahwa pengalaman traumatik dapat menyebabkan gangguan yang serius pada beberapa aspek dalam skema kognitif seseorang yang meliputi keyakinan tentang rasa aman, harga diri, kepercayaan, ketergantungan, kontrol, dan intimacy. ...
... McCann dan Pearlman (Hesse, 2002) membuat hipotesis bahwa pengalaman traumatik dapat menyebabkan gangguan yang serius pada beberapa aspek dalam skema kognitif seseorang yang meliputi keyakinan tentang rasa aman, harga diri, kepercayaan, ketergantungan, kontrol, dan keintiman (intimacy). Dua responden dalam penelitian ini menunjukkan tanda-tanda terganggunya skema kognitif mereka. ...
The purpose of this study was to determine the symptoms of vicarioustrauma and its impact in the lives of volunteers, the factors that causevicarious trauma and expectations for volunteers and government agencies.This study used qualitative research method based on phenomenology asit can reveal the meaning of an event. Based on the analysis result throughinterviews and observation, showed that volunteers who returned fromduty experience vicarious trauma as a result of interaction with multipletrauma victims. There are two main factors causing the occurrence ofvicarious trauma on volunteers are internal factors and external factors.Internal factors include the characteristics (personality) and adversity thatare owned by volunteers and how they performance it. External factorsare type of victim, the social environment and work climate with all kindsof problems.
... Research on the well-being of trauma service providers has focused on the negative cost of caring. It has been documented that extensive and prolong professional engagement with traumatized individuals, families and communities take an 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 6 emotional and psychological toll on practitioners and puts them at risk for experiencing both short and long term trauma reactions (Armagan, Engindeniz, Devay, Erdur & Ozcakir, 2006;Batten & Orsillo, 2002;Bell, Kilkarni & Dalton, 2003;Culver, McKinney & Paradise, 2011;Harrison & Westwood, 2009;Hesse, 2002;Shamai & Ron, 2009). Numerous studies reported effects on those who work in child protective services, HIV/AIDS infected populations, domestic violence, veterans, survivors of rape, natural disaster, terrorist attacks and torture, death and dying (Adams, Boscarino & Figley, 2009;Batten & Orsillo, 2002;Eidelson, D'Alessio & Eidelson, 2003Jankoski, 2010. ...
... Research on the well-being of trauma service providers has focused on the negative cost of caring. It has been documented that extensive and prolong professional engagement with traumatized individuals, families and communities take an emotional and psychological toll on practitioners and puts them at risk for experiencing both short and long term trauma reactions (Armagan, Engindeniz, Devay, Erdur & Ozcakir, 2006;Batten & Orsillo, 2002;Bell, Kilkarni & Dalton, 2003;Culver, McKinney & Paradise, 2011;Harrison & Westwood, 2009;Hesse, 2002;Shamai & Ron, 2009 Eidelson, 2003Jankoski, 2010. ...
Objective
The goal of this article is to discuss and illustrate secondary trauma reactions resulting from conducting trauma research. Possible secondary trauma effects have been extensively recognized and documented in those indirectly exposed to traumatic experiences through their affiliation with direct victims; for example family members, first responders and health care professionals. However, recognition and the study of potential secondary traumatization as the result of involvement in trauma research have only recently begun to emerge. This article sought to review what we know and point to where we need to go to gain further and more nuanced understanding of vicarious negative and positive reactions to studying trauma in those directly exposed.
Method
Empirical literature published in English in peer reviewed journals about the prevalence, characteristics, manifestations, predictors and negative and positive effects of trauma practice and trauma research was reviewed and analyzed.
Results
The empirical evidence indicates that involvement in trauma practice and in all stages and aspects of trauma research has the potential to generate both negative and positive vicarious trauma reactions. Correlates of research-related trauma reactions include the types of population studied, the research methods employed, personal and professional background and characteristics.
Conclusions
Involvement in trauma research positions researchers, interviewers, transcribers and others involved at risk for vicarious negative trauma reactions as well as presents the potential for vicarious posttraumatic growth. Individual researchers and research institutes should take measures to minimize negative effects and foster the potential for positive effects. Future nuanced research should examine the effectiveness of such measures as well as seek more nuanced knowledge about differential effects of researching different types of trauma in different research capacities.
... Secondary trauma has been found and analyzed among various helping professionals, including counselors (Hesse, 2002), domestic and/or sexual assault advocates and counselors (Baird & Jenkins, 2003;Everly, Boyle, & Lating, 2003;Iliffe & Steed, 2000), investigators and counselors working on sex crimes against children (Bonach & Heckert, 2012;Brady, 2017;Craun et al., 2015;Perez et al., 2010;Perron & Hiltz, 2006), and counselors treating sex offenders (Ennis & Horne, 2003;Lea, Auburn, & Kibblewhite, 1999). These professions are tasked with listening to people describe their trauma or reading about the trauma their clients have experienced. ...
... While a significant amount of research has analyzed secondary trauma among counselors (e.g., Ennis & Horne, 2003;Foreman, 2018;Lea et al., 1999), social workers (Bride, 2007;Bride et al., 2004;Hesse, 2002), and sex crimes investigators (Bonach & Heckert, 2012;Brady, 2017;Craun et al., 2015;Perez et al., 2010;Perron & Hiltz, 2006) very little research has been done on secondary trauma among juvenile justice professionals. However, two qualitative and two quantitative studies have assessed the extent of secondary trauma among adult probation and/or parole officers (Morran, 2008;Lewis et al., 2013;Rhineberger-Dunn, Mack, & Baker, 2016;Severson & Pettus-Davis, 2013). ...
The purpose of this article is to extend the existing literature on the workplace experiences of staff who work with juvenile offenders. We do this by assessing the extent of secondary trauma among a sample of juvenile detention officers and juvenile probation officers, and examine whether or not predictors of secondary trauma differ by position. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression results based on a survey of 298 staff reveal that secondary trauma is relatively low among both juvenile detention officers and juvenile court/probation officers. Additionally, results indicate predictors of secondary trauma differ for each of these job positions. Experiencing threat or harm from offenders increased secondary trauma for detention officers but not for probation/court officers. However, having a higher level of education and input into decision-making decreased secondary trauma for probation/court officers, but not for detention officers. Greater support from coworkers led to decreased secondary trauma for both detention and probation/court officers. Implications for detention and probation agencies include efforts to improve supervisor and coworker support, as well as debriefing sessions after threat of harm incidents have occurred.
... 3 By nature of this work, these community-based workers are vulnerable to vicarious trauma which can compromise their health and ability to effectively serve their role. 4 Violence intervention specialists identifying as women (VISW) comprise a group of violence interrupters and outreach workers who identify as women. VISW make up a small proportion of violence intervention professionals; however, they have a growing presence. ...
Introduction
There is a growing presence of violence intervention workers who identify as women, yet their unique strengths and challenges have not been described previously. The purpose of this study was to characterize the intersections of gender and violence intervention work.
Methods
We conducted a qualitative study of women working in violence intervention via focus groups. Perceived strengths and risks were explored using a semistructured interviewing technique. Focus groups were transcribed and coded by two separate evaluators. Grounded theory methodology was used for thematic analysis.
Results
17 violence intervention and outreach specialists who identify as women were included in three focus groups. Common challenges include a sense of powerlessness when faced with inequitable structural limitations and vicarious trauma. When discussing the role of their gender identity in the work, the women reported that men seem more willing to be emotionally vulnerable with women, including disclosures of a history of sexual abuse. Women also experience a lack of respect personally and professionally in their role related to gender. The women revealed a need for leadership opportunities to leverage their strengths and for enhanced training, especially for male colleagues who may benefit from the insights of colleagues who are women.
Conclusions
Women bring unique strengths to roles as violence intervention specialists to deal with trauma and prevent future violence. These findings suggest a need for specific curricula to support women working in violence intervention and further studies that explore the intersectional role of race as well as gender in violence intervention work.
Level of Evidence
6
... Earlier authors focused on methods caregivers can apply to improve their quality of life, such as seeking supervision and advice from colleagues, undergoing therapy to manage the risk of countertransference, and addressing unresolved issues from one's personal experience (Hesse, 2002). Authors Bober and Regehr (2006) mentioned that a professional's awareness of the importance of self-care does not immediately translate into engaging in this type of activity. ...
Objective: The present meta-analysis aimed to investigate which are the most efficient psychological and physical interventions for professional caregivers. Method: The study was realized using information extracted from 28 randomized controlled trials, totaling 2,168 participants, with mean ages between 22.88 and 48.54, of which 64.7% were females. The records were identified in relevant international databases of scientific articles, such as Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Cochrane, and dissertation databases ProQuest Dissertations, DART-Europe E-theses Portal, and EThOS, for gray literature. The targeted population was represented by professional trauma caregivers, a group consisting of medical personnel, psychologists, and social workers. Results: Out of the 28 trials included, 16 studies were performed on medical personnel, four on mental health personnel, two on social workers, and six on mixed groups. The statistical analysis revealed a main effect size of g = 0.541, 95% CI [0.383, 0.700], p < .001, which indicates an overall medium effect of the interventions. Effect sizes were compared and analyzed based on continuous and categorical moderators, which did not prove significant except for the female percentage. Conclusions: The current findings support that all interventions are adequate and outperform control groups. Based on the literature review that was made before the onset of this meta-analysis, there seems to be no other study realized in such an exhaustive format. The implications predominantly target practitioners in how to approach professional trauma caregivers who seek treatment. Future research should further investigate this population as a whole and consider including culture as a moderator.
... Furthermore, feeling isolated and disconnected, particularly during collective trauma, can negatively impact one's mental health [45]. Maintaining relational connection with a network of professionals doing similar work is an essential strategy in preventing and coping with indirect trauma [46]. In a group setting, sharing similar experiences decreases a sense of isolation and enhances social support [47]. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the long-standing issues of stress and burnout in the education sector, with teachers and education staff facing unprecedented challenges including significant adjustments to teaching methods and balancing the mental health and academic needs of their students. The resulting challenges have contributed to heightened levels of stress and burnout among teachers and education staff. The impact of the pandemic on teachers and education staff has highlighted the need for greater support and resources to help them cope with these challenges and address their stress and burnout. One such promising intervention, CoHealing, is aimed at promoting a more resilient, interdisciplinary network of trauma-informed helping professionals (e.g., teachers, medical providers, social workers) by reducing secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and isolation. CoHealing is a monthly group-intervention delivered over six months that aims to reduce secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and isolation. CoHealing provides self-regulation tools, relational connection as a coping resource, and psychoeducation on the causes and symptoms of indirect trauma. CoHealing was born out of the need to enhance the relational health of trauma-informed helping professionals and to address indirect trauma and job-related vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue across disciplines. Reducing the damaging effects of indirect trauma is critical to maintaining a healthy and resilient workforce that will, in turn, continue to provide high-quality health and human services to individuals and communities experiencing trauma and adversity. This paper provides an intervention description with limited preliminary evidence. More research is needed to robustly evaluate the impacts quantitatively and/or qualitatively.
... Over time, each welcomed changes in attitudes, new strategies for minimising trauma exposure, and a greater appreciation for life similar to findings by Hesse. 13 As they matured both personally and professionally and engaged in reflecting on the value of their broader life goals, they joined with their patients more as collaborators on a journey. ...
Introduction:
Senior radiation oncologists in hospital/organisational settings, are repetitively and vicariously exposed to others' traumatic distress-perpetuating risk of burnout. Little is known of the additional organisational burdens of the Covid-19 pandemic on their mental well-being for career longevity.
Methods:
Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, semi-structured interviews provided positive and negative subjective interpreted data from five senior Australian radiation oncologists during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Results:
One superordinate theme, Vicarious risk, hierarchical invalidation, redefining altruistic authenticity, overarched four subordinate themes: (1) Vicarious contamination of caring, (2) The hierarchical squeeze, (3) The heavy burden of me and (4) Growth of authenticity. For these participants, juxtaposed challenges to career longevity and mental well-being were 'self' as empathic carer to vulnerable patients, and ever-increasing burdens of the organisation. Sensing invalidation, they experienced periods of exhaustion and disengagement. However, with experience and seniority, self-care was prioritised and nurtured through intrapersonal honesty, altruism and relational connectedness with patients and mentoring forward junior colleagues. Focusing on mutual well-being, a sense of life beyond radiation oncology became acceptable.
Conclusions:
For these participants, self-care became a relational joining with their patients separate from the lack of systemic support which heralded an early termination to their career for psychological well-being and authenticity.
... Secondary trauma in social workers is not receiving the attention it should, though it can seriously affect their personal and professional well-being and inevitably compromise service delivery (see Hesse, 2002& Kheswa, 2019. ...
The book is a convergence of 18 critical Black African minds from various South African universities, who challenge the hegemonic status quo in society. In this collection of conceptual and empirical papers, each author tells a compelling story with common themes that are firmly rooted in advancing decolonial knowledge. It covers pertinent issues in social work practice and education, ranging from rethinking parenting roles, utopian notions of family, mediation practice in relation to unmarried fathers, to race and landlessness. It contains practical suggestions in respect of decolonising the self, as well as social work curricula in higher education. In addition, it delves into trusting relationships as cornerstones for effective supervision, centring African spirituality in social work, economic emancipation of Black women, cultural trauma, as well as drug abuse prevention. Based on the range of themes, this book would benefit social work practitioners, students, academics, social activists and anyone who is curious to understand how decoloniality may be operationalised in social work.
... This sets up a scenario that requires student leaders who are already suffering to not only observe their peers undergoing traumatic psychological distress but also be responsible for addressing peer distress when they are themselves distressed and not qualified, thus leading to the aforementioned consequences. This finding resonates with other studies, since exposure to people with psychological distress or trauma is considered "contagious" to less experienced people / therapists [41,42]. The poorly structured system to handle student psychological distress leaves many of the peer support team exposed to peers with psychiatric conditions, thereby worsening the mental health burden within the student groups and leading to more students diagnosed with psychiatric disorders. ...
Background
University-based mental health services for medical students remain a challenge, particularly in low-income countries, due to poor service availability. Prior studies have explored the availability of mental health services in high-income countries but little is known about mental health services in countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Uganda. Medical students are at a higher risk of developing mental health challenges during their course of study as compared with other students. Thus, there is a need for well-structured mental health services for this group of students. The aim of this study was to explore perspectives on mental health services for medical students at a public University in Uganda.
Methods
This was a qualitative study where key informant interviews were conducted among purposively selected university administrators (n = 4), student leaders (n = 4), and mental health employees of the university (n = 3), three groups responsible for the mental well-being of medical students at a public university in Uganda. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed to identify relevant themes.
Results
The working experience of university administrators and mental health providers was between eight months to 20 years, while student leaders had studied at the university for over four years. We identified five broad themes: (1) Burden of medical school: A curriculum of trauma, (2) Negative coping mechanisms and the problem of blame, (3) The promise of services: Mixed Messages, (4) A broken mental health system for students, and (5) Barriers to mental health services.
Conclusion
Distinguishing between psychological distress that is anticipated because of the subject matter in learning medicine and identifying those students that are suffering from untreated psychiatric disorders is an important conceptual task for universities. This can be done through offering education about mental health and well-being for administrators, giving arm’s length support for students, and a proactive, not reactive, approach to mental health. There is also a need to redesign the medical curriculum to change the medical education culture through pedagogical considerations of how trauma informs the learning and the mental health of students.
... services workforces (Devilly et al., 2009;van Minnen & Keijsers, 2000). The theoretical underpinning of STS suggests that it could occur with or without preexisting characteristics or unresolved psychological issues among those working with traumatized clients (Hesse, 2002;Ludick & Figley, 2017). However, a staff member's own trauma history has been shown to result in the individual experiencing retraumatization, which has been linked to higher risk of STS (Butler et al., 2017). ...
Direct support professionals (DSPs) are essential in the continuum of care for individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. DSPs provide a wide range of support including services to ensure the safety and welfare of individuals, support in the development of independent living skills and support in community integration. Existing literature has shown that as frontline workers, DSPs face various occupational hazards such as secondary traumatic stress (STS). The present study examined the relationships between STS and various risk and protective factors among members of the DSP workforce. This cross-sectional design used a convenience sampling method to recruit DSPs from 21 state licensed community-based agencies serving individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. The results from 406 participants indicated that exposure to client trauma, exposure to frequency of client challenging behaviors, and workers’ own trauma history served as risk factors, whereas personal resilience and organizational support were protective factors in predicting STS among DSPs. Perceived supervisor support did not significantly impact STS in the regression model. Implications of the results are discussed.
... Covariates Sociodemographic: we included sociodemographic characteristics such as gender (male/female) and years worked in profession (up to one year/one year to 10 years) as adjusted covariates, as previous literature has linked gender and years in profession with service providers' mental health [49][50][51]. ...
This paper examines the mental health of service providers working with Syrian refugees. Using the Professional Quality of Life framework, we hypothesize greater stress/less support from the work, person, client environment is associated with symptoms of STS, depression, and anxiety. We surveyed a sample of 104 service providers throughout Istanbul late 2018. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations between work (organizational support, caseload, supervision), person (perceived social support), client environment (trauma disclosure, percent Syrian refugees) on STS, depression, and anxiety. We found rates of moderate-to-severe STS to be 27.88%; depression 40.38%; and anxiety 29.81%. Our hypothesis was partially supported. Lower organizational support was associated with moderate-to-severe STS (aOR 0.91, 95% CI 0.84, 0.99) while lower social support with anxiety (aOR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81, 0.99). Caseload, supervision, trauma disclosure, percent refugees did not show significant associations. Organizations working with Syrian refugees may benefit from enhancing organizational support and promoting social support for staff.
... In addition, the workers with developed self-care plans that utilized active coping strategies reported lower levels of STS than those without such plans (Rienks, 2020). Other research in this area suggests that particularly effective self-care plans address both the physical and emotional well-being of the individual through strategies such as exercise, good nutrition, art making, and leaning on one's social network for support (Hesse, 2002;Newell & MacNeil, 2010). Salloum et al. (2015) found that the use of trauma-informed self-care strategies, which consider and address the impact of trauma on workers and clients alike, were linked to reduced burnout and increased compassion satisfaction (though not associated with changes in secondary trauma). ...
Child welfare work is inherently difficult, and child welfare agencies are known to experience high rates of turnover. We sought to expand the existing literature on intention to leave one’s child welfare agency and commitment to child welfare work through examining the coping mechanisms of frontline workers. Having and utilizing healthy coping mechanisms has proved beneficial to child welfare workers in previous research. In this paper, we examine specific coping mechanisms identified in the Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment and how they were associated with child welfare workers’ intent to leave their agency and their commitment to remain in the field of child welfare during the SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. We surveyed over 250 child welfare caseworkers using the COHA instrument. Using both bivariate analysis and linear regression, we identify specific coping mechanisms, such as staying present with friends and family, as highly influential and discuss ways to strengthen these areas.
... There are no minimum lengths of experience stated for this research. Although it is assumed that time frames will determine a counselor's experience working as crisis responder, the impact gains from it has no differences (Hesse, 2002;Jacobson, 2012). To capture a range of experience providing crisis intervention during natural disaster, attempts have been made to recruit both male and female counselors. ...
Disaster survivors are individuals who are literally survived in the aftermath of disaster situations. They are dislocated from their affected homes to evacuation centers; and forced to leave behind all belongings. Due to the characteristics of disasters that are sudden and catastrophic, disaster survivors often experience substantial symptoms of distress and respond with psychological and psychosocial reactions. This qualitative research was conducted using a descriptive phenomenological study approach to explore, understand, and describe the experience of counselors during natural disasters in Malaysian. The authors were the primary instrument for data collection and analysis. Data included field notes and individual semi-structured in-depth interviews. The authors developed coding categories using ATLAS.ti. The themes that emerged were refined and became the major and sub-themes for this research. This research found that the experience gained from the disaster survivors during the disaster situations has developed the understanding and addressing the complexity of satisfying disaster survivors’ critical needs during natural disasters. It was also informed that providing crisis support during natural disaster has brought plethora of experiences and knowledge that should be shared with other counselors in Malaysia.
... The "costs" of working with trauma are widely recognized (Hesse, 2002;Maslach, 2003). Research has mostly focused on professionals 1 working with high-risk clients or situations such as firefighters (Jahnke et al., 2016), ambulance personnel (Kang et al., 2018), substance abuse counselors (Cosden et al., 2016), social workers (Bride, 2007), and police officers and nurses (Bakker & Heuven, 2006;Burke, 1994;Martinussen et al., 2007). ...
Aim
Supporting clients who have experienced trauma can lead to trauma symptoms in those working with them; workers in the sexual violence field are at heightened risks of these. This article collated and critically appraised papers, published from 2017 onward, in the area of people assisting victims of sexual violence. It explores the impacts and effects the work has on them, their coping and self-care mechanisms, and organizational support offered to them.
Design
A question-based rapid evidence assessment with a triangulated weight of evidence approach was used. Academic and nonacademic databases were searched. Twenty-five papers were included for analysis based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Results
Most studies were of medium to high methodological quality. Negative impacts included trauma symptoms, disrupted social relationships, behavioral changes, and emotional and psychological distress. Ability to manage negative impacts was influenced by overall organizational support, availability of training, supervision and guidance, workloads and caseload characteristics, individual characteristics, and their coping and self-care mechanisms. Positive impacts included empowering feelings, improved relationships, compassion satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth.
Conclusions
Impacts are significant. Support at work and in personal life increases staff’s ability to cope and find meaning in their role. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
... İkincil travmatik stres, eşduyum yorgunluğunun bir elemanıdır ve işle ilgili aşırı stresli olaylara dolaylı yoldan maruz kalma ile ilgilidir (Figley, 1995 (Figley, 1995). Kişilerin daha sonraki hayatlarında hizmet sağladıkları kişinin yaşadığı travmaları yaşama korkusu, endişe, kaygı, günlük yaşantısında aksamalara ve bozulmalara yol açar (Hesse, 2002 (Figley, 2002). ...
... Workers at both DVO and DCP&P offices have experiences and interactions with DV, yet the frequencies of working with DV clients show a prominence among DVO staff. Case workers are often survivors as well and are drawn to the field as a way to help others with similar experiences (Hesse, 2002). This also raises questions for further inquiry specifically for DVO staff who have past experiences with DV and their desire to serve the population and their attitude formation. ...
This study examined how workers’ personal experience with domestic violence (DV) and their training and education impact their attitudes and beliefs about DV. Understanding workers’ attitudes is necessary to ensure an effective and non-judgmental service response. A statewide survey of child welfare and DV organization workers was analyzed using linear regression to predict workers’ victim blaming attitudes (N = 846). Gender, type of education, recognizing the impact of DV in one’s life, and DV training are all significantly associated with workers’ attitudes toward survivors. Those working with survivors should be provided with the training necessary to recognize the pervasive nature of DV.
... Engaging in activities such as yoga and meditation is believed to have the capacity to encourage emotional self-awareness [74,75], which may ameliorate STS symptoms [76]. Self-care approaches such as physical exercise and healthy nutrition are also seen as protective in the development and management of STS symptoms [77][78][79][80][81][82], although research suggests they do not contribute to mitigating these symptoms [28,83]. This is possibly because these activities are not able to single-handedly combat STS but rather act by boosting the efficacy of other procedures [84]. ...
This study aimed to extend previous research on the experiences and factors that impact law enforcement personnel when working with distressing materials such as child sexual abuse content. A sample of 22 law enforcement personnel working within one law enforcement organisation in England, United Kingdom participated in anonymous semi-structured interviews. Results were explored thematically and organised in the following headings: “Responses to the material”, “Impact of working with distressing evidence”, “Personal coping strategies” and “Risks and mitigating factors”. Law enforcement professionals experienced heightened affective responses to personally relevant material, depictions of violence, victims’ displays of emotions, norm violations and to various mediums. These responses dampened over time due to desensitisation. The stress experienced from exposure to the material sometimes led to psychological symptoms associated with Secondary Traumatic Stress. Job satisfaction, self-care activities, the coping strategies used when viewing evidence, detachment from work outside working hours, social support and reducing exposure to the material were found to mediate law enforcement professionals’ resilience. Exposure to distressing material and the risks associated with this exposure were also influenced by specific organisational procedures implemented as a function of the funding available and workload. Recommendations for individual and organisational practices to foster resilience emerged from this research. These recommendations are relevant to all organisations where employees are required to view distressing content.
... It should be noted that a person's unique experience of these conditions helps to determine the traumatic nature of the circumstance (SAMHSA, 2014a; Van der Kolk, 2000). During subsequent interface with social institutions, the potential for both clients (Katirai, 2020;Moore, 2006;Quiros & Berger, 2015) and providers (e.g., Hesse, 2002) to experience retraumatization exists. ...
Trauma Talks: Rising from the Ashes is a podcast series developed by The Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care (ITTIC). The series aims to present a variety of personal audio narratives that explore how trauma-informed care (TIC) intersects with individual experiences of healing and connection following traumatic events. The operationalization of TIC principles in the interviewing process is illustrated throughout, and a qualitative analysis is presented, exploring how podcast guests experienced these principles in practice. Justification for the creation of a podcast series illuminating TIC is outlined, and implications for social work educators on the use of podcasting is discussed. Podcasting is ultimately highlighted as a useful product and tool to harness technology for social good and provide guidance toward manifesting TIC.
... The phenomenon of STS has already been investigated for various professional groups, e.g. interpreters for refugees (Kindermann et al., 2017), trauma therapists (Hesse, 2002;Pearlman & Mac Ian, 1995;Rzeszutek, Partyka, & Gołąb, 2015), social workers (Lee, Gottfried, & Bride, 2018), combat veterans' spouses (Waysman, Mikulincer, Solomon, & Weisenberg, 1993) and first responders (Greinacher, Derezza-Greeven, Herzog, & Nikendei, 2019). Furthermore, previous studies have suggested that ECDs are at risk of developing STS in consequence of their exposure to the graphic description of emergency situations during emergency calls (Miller, 1995;Shakespeare-Finch, Rees, & Armstrong, 2015). ...
Background: Emergency call-takers and dispatchers (ECDs) field emergency calls and dispatch the appropriate emergency services. Exposure to the callers’ traumatic experiencescan lead to psychological stress and even to secondary traumatic stress (STS). In addition, previous studies suggest that ECDs may also suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety disorders.
Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of STS and to screen for PTSD, depression and anxiety disorders in ECDs. We further aimed to identify sociodemographic variables and attachment styles as possible risk factors for higher STS symptom load in ECDs.
Methods: STS and PTSD regarding lifetime traumatic events, as well as depression and anxiety disorders, were investigated in N = 71 ECDs. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify possible risk factors for higher STS symptom load.
Results: The analysis determined a prevalence of 8.5% for moderate STS and 2.8% for severe STS. A total of 11.3% of the ECDs screened positive for PTSD, 15.5% for depression and 7.0% for anxiety disorders. A higher number of children and the absence of a secure attachment style were identified to be significantly associated with higher STS symptom load.
Conclusions: STS resulting from exposure to traumatic emergency caller content is a common phenomenon among ECDs. Specific sociodemographic variables and the attachment style are significant risk factors of STS symptom load. ECDs should receive regular psychoeducational interventions and supervision to identify and mitigate mental distress at an early stage.
... The time that listeners spend listening to speakers' distress is associated with the listener's level of distress (Lewis & Manusov, 2009). This phenomenon is known as secondary trauma (Hesse, 2002). However, listening to trauma or distress does not affect all types of listeners equally (Lewis & Manusov, 2009). ...
Can improving employees’ interpersonal listening abilities impact their emotions and cognitions during difficult conversations at work? The studies presented here examined the effectiveness of listening training on customer service employees. It was hypothesized that improving employees’ listening skills would (a) reduce their anxiety levels during difficult conversations with customers, (b) increase their ability to understand the customers’ point of view (i.e., perspective-taking), and (c) increase their sense of competence. The two quasi-experiments provide support for the hypotheses. Study 1 (N = 61) consisted of a pre-post design with a control group and examined the effect of listening training on customer service employees in a Fortune 500 company. Study 2 (N = 33) conceptually replicated the results of Study 1 using listening training conducted in one branch of a company that provides nursing services compared to another branch of the company that did not receive training. The results indicated that listening training had lasting effects on employees' listening abilities, anxiety reduction, and perspective-taking during difficult conversations. The discussion centers on the importance of interpersonal listening abilities to the empowerment wellbeing of employees in the workplace.
... • El hecho de que el profesional haya experimentado algún tipo de acontecimiento psicológico no resuelto con anterioridad no es requisito necesario para sufrir desgaste, pero sí puede favorecerlo (Bourassa, 2009;Hesse, 2002). ...
Working by creating bonds with people and families in situations of crisis, emotional distress, trauma, or stress might have a negative impact on the professional’s health. Social workers are help relationships professionals who, generally, score high in empathy and are daily exposed to other people’s pain on a daily basis. The combination of both factors leads social workers to become the perfect collective to suffer from Compassion Fatigue. This article aims at making known the way empathy works in the human brain, thus becoming familiar with its nature and facilitating its management. An approximation to Compassion Fatigue describes predictive factors, its process and its consequences, in order to face it with greater awareness and efficacy. Finally, we are presented with a set of mechanisms, such as ecpathy, self-knowledge and personal and professional self-care, which could mitigate this Compassion Fatigue.
... Clinicians also noted an improved ability to discuss trauma with students and their families, and stated that interactions with students were refocused and goals were reevaluated based on the ACE data. Finally, through conversations with school staff, the impact of secondary trauma on teachers was raised as a major concern for the school communities (Hesse, 2002). Though many of the teachers did not know the students' full trauma histories, they were often the individuals responding to the emotional and behavioral distress presented by the students. ...
Trauma-informed schools are working to mitigate the effects of childhood trauma across the life span (NCTSN, 2008). While universal screenings are recommended as part of a trauma-informed framework (Ko et al, 2008), there are few developed models on how to implement universal trauma screenings in schools. In an effort to prevent and treat childhood trauma, Wediko Children’s Services (Wediko) developed a school-based universal childhood trauma screening protocol. The use of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Questionnaire as the screening tool to identify each student’s ACE score, as well as how the gained knowledge from these screenings was then utilized to treat trauma, is discussed. With a focus on supporting urban, low-income schools, empirical research examining the ACE Questionnaire, trauma-informed care and universal screenings is reviewed through an implementation framework. This theoretical paper offers Wediko as a case study to assist other schools and community-based mental health agencies in administering universal screenings in their schools with a focus on how to support the initial implementation phase.
Objective: The goal of this study was to examine the psychological and physical effects experienced by health care workers (HCWs) participating in the response to the February 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and to identify any associated factors.
Methods: An online survey was used to collect data from HCWs on duty in earthquake-stricken areas. The following assessment tools were utilized: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and Short Form-12.
Results: A total of 175 HCWs with a mean age of 37.27 years participated in the study. Of these, 39.4% suffered from PTSD, 30.3% experienced depression, and 31.4% experienced anxiety. Female gender, loss of significant others, and previous psychiatric treatment were found to be associated with worse mental health. Nurses tended to have higher levels of PTSD than the medical doctors; the medical doctors had significantly lower scores on the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory compared with the nurses and the other HCWs and lower mental component summary scores on the Short Form-12 compared with the other HCWs. Meeting basic needs and subjective evaluation of teamwork were also linked to mental health. The study also found that marital status, age, and length of time spent in earthquake-stricken areas were associated with scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory.
Conclusions: After the earthquake in Turkey, HCWs experienced a significant amount of various adverse mental health outcomes related to certain demographic variables such as gender, profession, previous psychiatric treatment, loss of relatives, and evaluation of living conditions and teamwork. Since HCWs play an essential role in reducing the harmful effects of disasters, recognizing groups at risk and planning tailored interventions may help prevent mental health issues.
Humanitarian practitioners, specifically emergency aid and relief workers, disaster responders, social workers, and crisis clinicians, are at elevated risk of experiencing trauma as a result of their professions. Approaches for responding to the silent pandemic of reactive traumatic stress, including secondary traumatic stress and vicarious traumatization among humanitarian practitioners continue to be inadequate. The current model of self‐care, emphasizing internal regulation and processes to promote positive health, wellbeing, and the ability to continue to support others, is insufficient to best equip humanitarian practitioners with protective factors to stave off reactive traumatic responses to their work. We therefore propose our theory to extend the current self‐care model to include the external focus of compassion resilience and conclude with recommendations.
As an occupational stressor, working with disturbing material can lead to burnout and vicarious trauma. A profession where exposure to potentially disturbing data tends to be common is that of the forensic linguist, both as an academic researcher and an expert witness in investigative and court settings. Yet, very little is known about the nature of occupational stress in forensic linguistic practice or the coping strategies forensic linguists employ. We address this knowledge gap by drawing on the intersubjective perspective of twelve practitioners, who were interviewed about aspects of their work. We apply thematic analysis to the data to find out what kinds of situations potentially detrimental to psychological wellbeing they encounter in their everyday practice, and how they respond to those situations. We find that, while the practitioners acknowledge the disturbing nature of case data, they are rarely affected by it, at least ostensibly so. This could be due to a number of coping strategies they mention, such as desensitisation; talking to others; putting a distance between themselves and the work; mentally preparing themselves for what they will be seeing, hearing or reading; and seeing their work as contributing positively to society.
Education in self care is a core focus for beginning generalist social work trainees to boost trauma awareness, or the ability to recognize and respond to emotional responses from direct practice with clients with a history of trauma, and oppression,as well as for diminishing worker burnout. This paper presents a description and assessment of an asynchronous teaching module comprised of a video lecture, quiz and assignment piloted with beginning graduate-level social work students in the United States to situate self care as a component of professional development toward trauma-informed and ethical care. The module aimed to translate knowledge and skills in self care directly to practice and framed targets of self care including emotional regulation, and meaning-making. It provided students opportunities to identify self care practices at the individual level on their own, as well as agency-based self care practices in consultation with their field supervisors. The module was piloted with 57 master’s students enrolled in beginning generalist practice courses and the outcomes of a survey and thematic analysis suggests it warrants consideration as a tool for promoting competency regarding self care in an asynchronous, easily transportable format for online or hybrid learning.
Online peer-to-peer therapy sessions can be effective in improving people's mental well-being. However, online volunteer counselors may lack the expertise and necessary training to provide high-quality sessions, and these low-quality sessions may negatively impact volunteers' motivations as well as clients' well-being. This paper uses interviews with 20 senior online volunteer counselors to examine how they addressed challenges and acquired skills when volunteering in a large, mental-health support community - 7Cups.com. Although volunteers in this community received some training based on principles of active listening and motivational interviewing, results indicate that the training was insufficient and that volunteer counselors had to independently develop strategies to deal with specific challenges that they encountered in their volunteer work. Their strategies, however, might deviate from standard practice since they generally lacked systematic feedback from mentors or clients and, instead, relied on their personal experiences. Additionally, volunteer counselors reported having difficulty maintaining their professional boundaries with the clients. Even though training and support resources were available, they were underutilized. The results of this study have uncovered new design spaces for HCI practitioners and researchers, including social computing and artificial intelligence approaches that may provide better support to volunteer counselors in online mental health communities.
The present chapter will have two sections: first part will be focusing on psychological assessment of victims, and second part would be on the guidelines for mental health practitioners who deal with victims. Psychological assessments are important part of investigations and treatment which enables the forensic expert to get leads or evidences of the crime. Assessments based on cognitive functions, personality, and psychopathologies are important components in addition to many instruments guided analysis. The chapter provides the overview of various assessments, effects on victims, and also a horizontal view about the needs and interventions available for the mental health professionals working with victims and trauma clients. The professionals dealing with trauma may also go through secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, counter transference, and occupational burnout, and thus, the second part of the chapter would focus on it. This part describes on the required skills and guidelines to be followed while dealing with victims. There are certain professional and personal characteristics of mental health practitioners that work as assets and protective factors while working with trauma clients and victims. Psychological therapies are required to promote catastrophe survivors’ resiliency and rehabilitation by decreasing psychological crisis. Thus, certain treatment modalities are vital in lending support and assistance to the mental health professionals dealing with trauma clients and victims such as crisis intervention model, psychological first aid, behavioural and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), etc. Seeking effective and appropriate supervision by the mental health professionals also aids in dealing with victims and trauma clients.KeywordsAssessmentTraumaVictimologyPsychopathologyVicarious traumaMental health professionals
Objective
Psychologists are primary care professionals responsible for providing treatment to people exposed to trauma. However, there has been limited research exploring psychologists’ perceptions of their practice and trauma-informed care when treating people exposed to trauma. The current study aimed to investigate: 1) psychologists’ perceptions of assessing and treating trauma-exposed clients; and 2) psychologists’ perceptions of trauma-informed practice and their need for further training in this area.
Method
Surveys were completed by 99 psychologists, and the data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Results
Psychologists reported the importance of further trauma-related training and showed an inconsistent understanding of trauma-informed practice.
Conclusions
Changes in tertiary education for psychologists were recommended to assist future psychologists to develop competency and confidence in assessing and treating trauma-exposed clients. It was also recommended that psychologists with insufficient knowledge in this field to undertake further training in this area.
This thesis constructs a history of the changing role of survivors’ narratives in anti-sexual violence zines from the 1990s to the early 2020s. I argue that zines are a window to the changing politics of the American anti-sexual violence movement. Through this lens, I find that the role of survivors’ narratives in zines has complexly changed and ultimately diminished over time. I examine how and posit why this change occurred in zines and the anti-sexual violence movement. Among other reasons, I find that both have followed the traditional arc of social movements, which chronologically involves emergence, coalescence, institutionalization, and decline. There are complicated consequences of zines’ transition from helping survivors heal to providing impersonal education and the paralleled progression of the anti-sexual violence movement. Ultimately, I advise that there must always be space for survivors’ narratives in anti-sexual violence efforts because of their benefits to survivors’ healing and the movement’s progress.
Purpose
Extant literature has demonstrated connections between workplace environment and worker stress, as well as between worker stress and direct service provision. Current research on direct service provision to people experiencing homelessness, however, has not established a clear association between the workplace environment and the quality of direct services provided to clients receiving case management. This study extends the existing research by establishing connections between all of these constructs, specifically within the context of case management services to people experiencing homelessness.
Method
For this mixed methods study, the authors sampled 16 case managers providing direct services to people experiencing homelessness in one homelessness services organization (HSO) in a large metropolitan area. Through focus group interviews and web-based surveys, the authors collected data on the workplace environment, worker stress, and direct service provision. The authors then analyzed the data using a concurrent nested approach for mixed methods analysis.
Results
The results of this study suggest that case managers in homelessness HSOs often experience a stressful workplace environment due to workplace cultural norms, inefficient processes, and high expectations placed upon them by both clients and administrators. The stressful workplace environment can interact with client trauma to produce secondary traumatic stress in direct service providers, which then influences client-case manager rapport development.
Discussion
Study findings point toward specific policies and practices that homelessness HSOs ought to adopt in order to mitigate case managers’ workplace stress and secondary traumatic stress, and negative influences of these stressors on rapport development between case managers and clients experiencing homelessness.
Purpose
This study investigates the relationship between perceptions of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC), burnout, and turnover intentions among juvenile justice staff members in residential commitment programs.
Methods
Drawing data from a sample of Florida juvenile justice staff, a series of two-level mixed-effects linear regression models nesting staff survey responses (N = 1281) within residential program components (N = 58) regressed burnout and turnover intentions on five domains of organizational TIC—TIC Training, Trauma Screening and Procedures, Staff Safety, Attitudes Towards TIC, and TIC Complications and Barriers—and other confounding influences. Additional regression models utilizing the Karlson-Holm-Breen method consider the direct and indirect effects of TIC.
Results
The results indicated that staff perceptions of key TIC domains, namely TIC Training and Trauma Screening and Procedures, and Staff Safety were predictive of burnout; however, the relationship between TIC measures and burnout was mediated by perceptions of Staff Safety. Additionally, staff turnover intentions were largely a function of staff perceptions of safety and burnout, with these factors again mediating the effect of TIC.
Conclusions
TIC represents a popular service model for human service agencies working with trauma-exposed clients. This study is the first to assess how staff perceptions of organizational TIC impact burnout and turnover intentions in a juvenile justice setting. It suggests that aspects of organizational TIC have the potential to reduce burnout and increase employee retention by improving workplace physical and emotional safety.
South Africa is a particularly traumatised country that has been characterised and experienced excessive amounts of violence, discrimination and social division. Against this backdrop, South African social workers have a fundamental role to fulfil through their contributions to the healing of the country as they advocate for social justice, reconciliation and equality. Yet these contributions often come at a cost, working with traumatised clients and communities frequently results in social workers being exposed to emotionally intensive and disturbing experiences of their clients and communities. While there are numerous strategies to employ in order to ameliorate the effects of vicarious trauma, reflective social work practice is essential. This paper explores how reflective practice is a crucial approach to practice for social workers who are working with traumatised populations utilising a case vignette to illustrate this process. The role of social work educators and supervisors in this regard is also highlighted.
This brief report presents results from a study that evaluated trainings provided by a local Continuum of Care lead agency to homelessness assistance service providers. The study explored types of trainings desired by participants, benefits and drawbacks of existing trainings and how they are offered, and ways in which trainings and the training delivery system could be improved. Data were collected through semistructured focus groups attended by 21 providers. Data analysis identified themes related to specific trainings that, providers believe, would increase their effectiveness and improve organizational efficiency and culture. Participants also identified ways in which trainings were beneficial, but they also provided feedback about ways trainings could be improved.
El objetivo del presente estudio fue explorar la perspectiva de los trabajadores de centros de atención especializada en materias de infancia respecto a los riesgos laborales y las estrategias de autocuidado más efectivas para hacerles frente. El estudio fue de carácter mixto. En la fase cualitativa participaron 69 profesionales de 19 centros especializados en intervención con niños que han sufrido vulneración grave de derechos. En la fase cuantitativa lo hicieron 129 profesionales de esos mismos centros. Los resultados muestran riesgos laborales variados, siendo lo más frecuente los riesgos emocionales asociados al trabajo con población altamente traumatizada y a la sobrecarga laboral. En menor frecuencia se reportan riesgos físicos vinculados a posibles agresiones de los usuarios, accidentes laborales o inadecuada infraestructura. Los profesionales valoran positivamente tanto las estrategias de autocuidado individual como las estrategias de cuidado al interior del equipo y a nivel institucional. Estos resultados destacan la necesidad de aumentar los esfuerzos por favorecer la salud de los profesionales que trabajan con niños con historia de vulneración grave de derechos.
Newspapers are considered highly accessible through the use of the internet and its authenticity
provides language teachers a valuable instructional material. Likewise, by studying closely and
carefully the genre-specific nature of headlines, language teachers could lead students in a more
careful judgment or judicious evaluation of media discourse, or of newspaper editorial headlines in particular. Through conducting a discourse analysis of selected headlines, taken from
the electronic versions of editorials of the top three broadsheets in the Philippines (Philippine
Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, and Manila Bulletin), the paper aimed at examining whether certain presupposition triggers can be found in Philippine newspapers editorials headlines
that enable the potential ability of editorial headlines to draw reader’s attention and to elicit
insights by creating well-founded conditions for reading processes to occur. The results of the
study revealed that the most commonly used presupposition trigger was existential presupposition trigger, which suggests an invariable quality of Filipino editorial headlines. This was followed by lexical, structural, and factive presupposition triggers, which highlight the collectivist
nature of the Filipino culture that account to the high-context and reader-responsible characteristics of Philippine editorial headlines. In contrary, non-factive and counterfactual presupposition triggers were found to be not employed in the selected corpus. Lastly, use of definite descriptions, factive verbs, implicative verbs, aspectual predicates, temporal clauses, and wh-form
are some of the identified linguistic items that generate the presupposed meaning in a text.
This nonrandom pre-experimental posttest only group design study sought to examine levels of secondary trauma in social work professionals and the impact of this trauma on parenting behavior. Participants (n = 421) completed measures focused on demographic data and normed scales in the areas of primary trauma, secondary trauma, and parenting styles. Results noted moderate levels of primary trauma and low moderate levels of secondary trauma. A negative correlation was noted between years of service and overall secondary trauma. Child Protective Services Workers (CPS) were noted to report an increased likelihood of primary and secondary trauma compared to the rest of the sample. Overall, a positive correlation was noted between secondary trauma and authoritarian parenting, and, conversely, a negative correlation was noted between secondary trauma and authoritative parenting. A smaller but significant finding was noted in high secondary trauma and permissive parenting. This information is important for teaching and training opportunities to educate social workers and other paraprofessionals on the impact of secondary trauma on parenting behaviors. Awareness can lead to personal changes, as well as changes in curriculum to support prevention efforts.
People experiencing homelessness often present to social service providers with trauma histories. As they seek services, their service providers may be secondarily exposed to their clients’ trauma, thereby impacting the level of care these service providers are able to offer. Unfortunately, little research examines the stress burden carried by homelessness service providers, nor the factors that contribute to their stress burden. The purpose of this mixed methods study, therefore, is to characterize the secondary traumatic stress (STS) reported by individuals who provide direct services to people experiencing homelessness, and to explore the workplace experiences that may underlie, influence, or mitigate this stress. The study relies upon a sample of direct service providers and program managers who work with people experiencing homelessness. The authors collected data on STS and workplace stress via a web-based survey (n = 122) and focus group interviews (n = 21). The results of this study suggest that homelessness service providers carry a substantial stress burden. Findings further point towards administrative strategies that may improve service providers’ stress burdens, and potentially improve the service quality provided by agencies serving homeless populations.
Organizations play a vital role in preventing or ameliorating secondary traumatic stress (STS) among helping professionals. This qualitative case study investigated one organization’s response to workers’ STS, why its response was ineffective, and how its organizational structure and organizational culture negatively impacted its response to employees’ trauma-related distress. Data included 29 in-depth interviews with staff members serving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, ethnographic fieldnotes, and the employee handbook. Key findings were that the organization’s approach was overly individualistic, that employees needed additional resources and education to engage in effective self-care, and that the organizational culture undermined workers’ well-being.
The research was about the compassion fatigue and its contributing factors in guidance counsellors. The sample for the study was 92 guidance counsellors. This study explored factors of compassion fatigue, work-related factors, personality traits and demographic factors utilising the following instruments: professional quality of life scale (ProQOLs), NEO PI-R and demographic questionnaire. The context for the study was different schools in Central Luzon – Region 3, Philippines. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression stepwise method were utilised in the study. Findings indicated that participants had low levels of burnout and low levels of secondary trauma stress as elements of compassion fatigue. Personality traits of the participants identified include low levels of neuroticism, average levels of extraversion, average levels of openness to experience, high level of agreeableness and high levels of conscientiousness. Multiple regression stepwise method confirmed that the personality traits neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness predict burnout with a variability of 40%. Likewise, salary as work-related factor also predicts burnout with a variability of 4.7%. Similarly, personality trait neuroticism is confirmed to predict secondary trauma stress with a variability of 21.9%. Based on the two elements of compassion fatigue, neuroticism was found out to be the best predictor among the personality traits. Keywords: burnout; compassion fatigue; guidance counsellors; secondary traumatic stress;
Background:
Child abuse organizations are keenly aware of the impact helping abused and neglected children has on the people who do that work. In their efforts to address this issue, they look to their colleagues for recommendations on what works. Of particular value is testimony from those who have used evidence-informed programs to mitigate the impact on staff, so services to children do not suffer.
Objective, participants and setting, results:
The Resiliency Project provided that evidence-informed program, one that was developed for and by the child abuse field in 2009. With funding from the Office for Victims of Crime, The University of Texas at Austin team of researchers, educators and practitioners developed the Organizational Resiliency Model (ORM) specifically for the child abuse field. The model draws from research on strengths individuals who are resilient have, and offers strategies for organizations to use to build resiliency in their staff. The ORM was piloted with 24 leaders from the field, including children's advocacy centers (CACs); court-appointed special advocate (CASA) programs; and government-based child welfare agencies. This article reviews the research basis for the ORM and new research supporting the model, and offers lessons learned through structured interviews with 10 child abuse leaders who piloted the ORM and continue to use it ten years later.
Conclusions:
Using the ORM, based on evidence available at the time, supported by new research and attested to by child abuse leaders who have sustained the model in their organizations, can promote a healthy and resilient workforce.
This study assesses the prevalence and severity of secondary traumatic stress (STS) symptoms among a sample of southern child protective service (CPS) workers. Using a survey research design, up to 37% of the respondents were found to be experiencing clinical levels of emotional distress associated with STS. In addition, levels of work exposure and work related personal trauma were found to be strongly associated with the presence of those symptoms. Preventive and interventive strategies to address these findings are suggested.
This study examined vicarious traumatization (i.e., the deleterious effects of trauma therapy on the therapist) in 188 self-identified trauma therapists. Participants completed questionnaires about their exposure to survivor clients' trauma material as well as their own psychological well-being. Those newest to the work were experiencing the most psychological difficulties (as measured by the Traumatic Stress Institute Belief Scale; L. A. Pearlman, in press) and Symptom Checklist-90—Revised (L. Derogatis, 1977) symptoms. Trauma therapists with a personal trauma history showed more negative effects from the work than those without a personal history. Trauma work appeared to affect those without a personal trauma history in the area of other-esteem. The study indicates the need for more training in trauma therapy and more supervision and support for both newer and survivor trauma therapists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
offers a framework for prevention of compassion stress [in professional caregivers] that includes an appreciation of the primary, secondary, and tertiary dimensions of prevention / presents guidelines for preventing STS [secondary traumatic stress], based on an ecological model / this model assumes that prevention can be most successful if it incorporates both the individual and environmental factors / individual strategies address the physical, social, and psychological aspects as of STS, as well as its professional components / environment interventions include social, societal, and work-setting strategies (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Discusses the personal experience of treating rape victims from the perspective of vicarious traumatization and information processing theory. In particular, symptoms experienced by the rape therapist and challenges to her schemas about the world and others are explored. Suggestions for dealing with vicarious traumatization are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
"Trauma and the Therapist" explores the role and experience of the therapist in the therapeutic relationship [with adult incest survivors] by examining countertransference (the therapist's response to the client) and vicarious traumatization (the therapist's response to the stories of abuse told by client after client). Therapists' awareness of attunement to these processes will inform their therapeutic interventions, enrich their work, and protect themselves and their clients. The authors also offer many strategies for avoiding the countertransference vicarious traumatization cycle.
The authors' approach is broad, drawing from and synthesizing the diverse literature on countertransference and trauma theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Within the context of their new constructivist self-development theory, the authors discuss therapists'' reactions to clients'' traumatic material. The phenomenon they term vicarious traumatization can be understood as related both to the graphic and painful material trauma clients often present and to the therapist''s unique cognitive schemas or beliefs, expectations, and assumptions about self and others. The authors suggest ways that therapists can transform and integrate clients'' traumatic material in order to provide the best services to clients, as well as to protect themselves against serious harmful effects.
Many people associate PTSD with veterans of the Vietnam War. But emergency responders are also vulnerable to this condition when trauma takes its psychological toll.
Limited available evidence suggests that disaster support work may have negative effects. This study attempts to examine the impact of disaster-related stress on helpers offering psychological support to victims of two major disasters, and to identify potential moderating factors. Sixty-seven social workers were surveyed, measures being taken of psychological symptomatology and wellbeing, personality variables, social support, life events, and various aspects of disaster support work. Comparison with normative data suggested that subjects were experiencing significant levels of stress. Two major sources of disaster-related stress were identified: role-related difficulties and contact with clients' distress. Approximately one third of the variance in helper response could be explained by variables reflecting coping style, prior life events and the aforementioned aspects of disaster support work. Follow-up data at 12 months demonstrated persisting high levels of stress.
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