Vicarious trauma, a form of secondary trauma, is an inescapable effect of working with trauma survivors. It is an occupational hazard and may be the single most important factor impacting the success or failure of trauma work. Organizations need to address vicarious trauma as an ethical imperative.
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What is vicarious or secondary (a.k.a. secondhand) trauma?
Secondary trauma is an umbrella term that encompasses a variety of concepts including vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma refers to the negative changes in the helper as the result of empathically engaging with, and feeling responsible for, traumatized people. Vicarious trauma pertains particularly to helpers that work with trauma survivors, whereas other terms like "burnout" or "compassion fatigue" can refer to people working in other contexts.
What are the symptoms of vicarious trauma?
Vicarious trauma can have wide-ranging impacts. These include negative effects on helpers like:
- A shift in core sense of meaning and hope: “Why bother? My work doesn’t matter anyway.”
- A shift in identity and worldview: “I entered this field to help others and I don’t feel helpful. I used to believe most kids grow up in happy families, but now I’m not so sure.”
- An inability to manage feelings: “I’m exhausted and keep dreaming about bad things happening at work. The littlest things set me off at home and I’m snapping at my spouse and kids.”
- A change in beliefs about safety: “My client was assaulted in a park in my town and I’m afraid to go there even though it’s a place I love to take my kids.”
- A spiritual or existential crisis: “I don’t understand how a loving God could allow these terrible things to happen to my clients.” Or, “How can I exist in a world like this?”
How can vicarious trauma impact organizations?
Trauma happens in the context of a web of relationships. Therefore, healing also must happen in relationships. For that healing to happen, organizations must attend to the health of BOTH the helper and the person served. Organizations where vicarious trauma is high tend to have higher staff turnover, lower job satisfaction, more punitive staff behavior, more serious incidents, more staff conflict, and more staff on client violence.
How can vicarious trauma be addressed at the organizational level?
Organizations must first understand that vicarious trauma is real and can have serious negative impacts on staff, clients, and the organization as a whole. It is important to train all staff – from new employee orientation on – about the reality of vicarious trauma, that:
- It is not a sign of weakness in staff
- Self-care is critically important
- It is okay to talk about vicarious trauma
- The organization is committed to creating the conditions for staff to be able to address the effects of their vicarious trauma
Training and attention to vicarious trauma is a core element of the Risking Connection® trauma training model. Participants in the training frequently report that understanding vicarious trauma and hearing their colleagues talk about its effect is the most powerful part of the training. Organizations learn what factors contribute to vicarious trauma, how it impacts staff, and what as a system they can do to embed attention to vicarious trauma into their culture.
