Lecture 1 - Vicarious Trauma Flashcards
What is vicarious trauma?
The emotional residue of exposure that professionals have from working with people who have suffered trauma. They become witnesses to the fear, pain and terror that their clients have endured
What are alternative names for vicarious trauma?
Secondary trauma
Compassion fatigue
Burnout
There is much debate on what the condition should be called and whether they are actually different things. But what does everyone agree on in terms of vicarious trauma?
Everyone agrees that there are long term consequences to reliving a clients experiences especially when those clients are abused children
What did Conrad (2011) describe both secondary trauma and vicarious trauma as ?
The stress and personal damage caused by helping or wanting to help a traumatised person
What is the definition of empathy?
The ability to sense and understand someone else’s feelings as if they are your own
What are some of the effects of vicarious trauma and high empathy on individuals?
Stress Sickness Low self esteem Emotional numbing Cynicism Depersonalisation of the client so poorer quality service
What is the effect of vicarious trauma on organisations? (3)
If the quality of care falls then there is greater pressure on the members of the team to increase case loads to help the struggling member. Increasing their risk of VT
Inter-agency relationships can suffer ( horwath & tidbury 2009)
So you bring less experienced staff into high pressure jobs meaning there is more damage
Blame culture develops
Who looked at when VT occurred? Does it happen after working many hours with lots of exposure ?
Conrad & kellar-guenthar (2006)
Can happen after a single traumatic event or after a long time
Who found that it was the volume and range of cases that brought on VT?
Tehrani (2011)
Which cases can have added pressure and why?
Added pressure when it is a high profile case and there is a lot of public reaction. This increases scrutiny on the professionals
Sometimes suppressing …. And …. Can lead to VT
which researchers discovered this?
Suppressing personal views and emotions
Van deusen & way (2006)
Which emotions specifically can impact the practitioner? (Tehrani 2001)
Anger and disgust whilst trying to empathise and treat offenders
What are three important ways of dealing with vicarious trauma?
- Provide an adequate level of supervision
Prevent isolation - needs to be a culture that recognises that VT is serious and isn’t just part of the job
- there should be a chance to fully debrief those involved
Helps with future learning
What are 4 protocols that should be put in place to help deal with VT?
Debriefing
Self reflection
Self monitoring
Recognising that others heal at different speeds
What seems to improve the participation in these protocols and interventions?
When they are administered by an external organisation
