By Kirsty Ruggles, MS
Many of us in helping professions can often find ourselves encountering daily secondary exposure to traumas such as community violence, domestic abuse, and child abuse or neglect. This vicarious experience, to the traumas that others are living and recounting, can create Secondary Traumatic Stress symptoms in us.
Secondary Traumatic Stress is the “emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another” (NCTSN. n.d.). This type of stress can cause such an emotional toll that our ability to perform our job can be impacted and our quality of life compromised. In fact, up to 50% of child welfare workers are at a high risk for secondary traumatic stress (NCTSN. n.d.)
If you’re a professional working closely with others who have experienced trauma, pay attention to feelings of depletion, particularly emotional numbness, and recurring thoughts, or intrusive thoughts, relating to the traumas of those you are supporting. In addition, thoughts of helplessness and hopelessness with regards the ability to caring for, and treating clients, that impact your daily level of functioning are signs that you might be experiencing secondary traumatic stress.
The best way to manage these effects is to prevent them from occurring in the first place. It is important that organizations and professionals put emphasis on understanding trauma and vicarious trauma, provide training for those working directly with traumatized individuals and engage in reflective supervision. Furthermore, self-care strategies should be encouraged and utilized. Access to self-care groups, management of caseloads, appropriate rest, nutrition and exercise are all important methods to minimize the impact of vicarious trauma.
Remember, you cannot give from an empty cup and we must always practice the parallel process – what we wish for our clients, families and students to do, we must also be willing to do for ourselves!
