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Summary

The website content discusses strategies for professionals who work with trauma to prevent vicarious trauma, emphasizing the importance of self-care and support systems.

Abstract

The article "Second-Hand Trauma — How to Protect Yourself" outlines the risk of vicarious trauma for professionals who regularly deal with people in crisis, such as police officers, ambulance crews, and domestic violence practitioners. It underscores the necessity for these professionals to develop resilience and implement self-care strategies to maintain their mental health. The piece suggests engaging in hobbies, disconnecting after work, seeking support from colleagues or managers, and participating in clinical supervision as effective methods to prevent the emotional impact of others' trauma from affecting one's own well-being. The author, a domestic violence practitioner, shares personal experiences and insights on how to manage the emotional toll of the job, advocating for proactive measures to safeguard mental health and prevent burnout or career abandonment due to vicarious trauma.

Opinions

  • The author believes that vicarious trauma can have a devastating impact on professionals, potentially leading to sick leave, job resignation, and even career changes.
  • Engaging in hobbies, particularly those that relax and bring joy, is seen as a valuable strategy for mentally disengaging from work-related trauma.
  • Deliberate disconnection from work after hours is crucial to prevent the accumulation of emotional stress and trauma.
  • Open communication with colleagues or managers is advocated as a means of coping with the emotional weight of the job and avoiding emotional bottlenecks.
  • Clinical supervision is highlighted as a key resource for managing vicarious trauma, yet its availability varies, with some sectors like the NHS lacking in this area.
  • The author emphasizes that vicarious trauma is not immediate but builds over time, necessitating ongoing prevention efforts.
  • It is noted that professionals in trauma-related fields are driven by vocation rather than financial incentives, making it essential to protect them from vicarious trauma to retain skilled and passionate workers.
  • The article suggests that no one is immune to vicarious trauma, but with the right strategies, its effects can be

Second-Hand Trauma — How to Protect Yourself

4 strategies to prevent you from suffering vicarious trauma

Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on Unsplash

Professionals who deal with people in crisis or experiencing trauma are at high risk of second-hand trauma — they can develop vicarious trauma. Amongst those professionals, we have police officers, ambulance crew, firefighters, phycologists, or victim support professionals.

Unfortunately, many people don't realise this until they are already suffering from the effects of vicarious trauma — whose impact on their mental health can be devastating. Often, vicarious trauma leads professionals to go off sick, and many quit their jobs and even careers.

It’s paramount that professionals who deal with other people’s trauma take care of themselves, to prevent the despair and emotional suffering from their clients/patients getting under their skin.

It’s possible to develop resilience and prevent other people’s trauma from affecting you.

I work as a domestic violence practitioner, so I deal almost daily with trauma. I’m also completing my qualification as a Domestic Violence Advisor, which means that for months now I’ve been living and breathing domestic violence.

Fortunately, in my first class of the course, vicarious trauma was largely discussed. I’ve never heard about it before and if I hadn’t learned about it, I wouldn’t know how to protect myself. In time, I might have figured it out, but by learning about it, I’m already working in prevention, instead of later having to deal with it.

Everybody is different and each one will know what works for them; what will help them create barriers to protect themselves from absorbing other people’s emotional suffering. But there are some strategies proven to prevent vicarious trauma:

Strategies to prevent vicarious trauma

1. Get a hobby

The benefits of hobbies for your mental health are immense. In the context of vicarious trauma, the goal is to take your mind away from the traumatic experiences you witnessed or heard talking about.

My advice is for you to choose an activity that relaxes you, that makes you happy. Don’t choose one that you think will work, or because everybody you know is doing it. This is all about you.

I love to write, but what I found helped me better deal with the emotional trauma my clients share with me is to take care of my garden — which I started with that purpose.

Last week, I was working from home, and I had an extremely hard phone call. My client was in crisis. She was already crying when she called me; she shared with me the horrible things her husband had done to her, in detail. Her pain was so intense that sucked me in. After we ended the call, I made myself a coffee, went to my garden and spent 10/15 minutes fluffing the compost on the pots, inspecting the health of all my vegetables and just breathing. I had to step back from work, to ground myself again in my life.

Think about what activity will make you disconnect and stick with it; the short and long-term benefits are very worth it.

2. After your working day, disconnect

This might be hard to do, but it’s needed.

I used my commuting time to review my working day, to replay in my mind the conversations I had with my clients, to see if I missed something; if I needed to contact them again and provide additional safety advice. Other times, work just wouldn't leave my mind. This is opening the door for vicarious trauma to happen.

After work, you have to disconnect; you need to prioritise your personal life, even if you have nothing important to do. You can’t be on professional modus all the time.

My strategy now is to turn on my audiobook and force my mind to focus on it. I love listening to music, but it’s not powerful enough to take my mind away from work like audiobooks are.

I have a colleague who also drives to work. When returning home, her strategy is to allow herself to think about her day while she’s driving, but to turn her mind off from work when she gets to a specific roundabout — that is her turning-off point.

Whatever helps you end your working day, do it. Some days might be harder than others, but you truly need to do it.

3. Talk with a colleague or your manager

You are not alone in feeling overwhelmed or upset because of the nature of your job.

Every professional who deals with trauma will experience what you’re experiencing, or similar; they’ll emphasise with you.

All your feelings are valid and talking with someone about it will help you to cope with it and prevent you from bottling up your emotions.

Talking with someone who understands what you’re going through will also be helpful in the sense that they might offer you new strategies to deal with, or help you look into the situation from a perspective you haven’t yet considered. This will help you to relieve your emotionally charged weight.

4. Clinical supervision

I’m privileged, as my employer offers clinical supervision. I know professionals who deal with trauma who don’t have this resource, which is a shame, as it’s key in preventing and managing vicarious trauma.

My partner is a paramedic. He also deals with people in crisis and also experiences first-hand other people’s trauma. He’s at risk of vicarious trauma, but the NHS doesn’t offer clinical supervision. He has no specialised guidance on how to manage everything he sees and hears; all the emotional transference that happens in his job.

Clinical supervision makes all the difference in preventing and managing vicarious trauma. The professional will guide you through your emotions and help you manage them.

If you’re a professional at risk of vicarious trauma, my recommendation is for you to ask your manager for clinical supervision or, at least, to have someone capable, for you to share your burden and struggles.

Vicarious trauma builds over time; usually, it’s not something that happens after one incident. That’s why you need to find ways to prevent it from happening.

Unfortunately, vicarious trauma is one of the reasons why professionals leave their jobs and, often, abandon their careers, the ones they once loved and invested in. The vicarious trauma built up to a point that it made it impossible for them to keep going.

People who work with trauma usually don’t choose their jobs because of the money. They do it because they love it; it’s their vocation, their calling if you wish. And it’s a waste to lose (passionate) professionals, that are good at helping people in suffering because of vicarious trauma.

No one is immune to vicarious trauma, and in some cases, work will always affect us harder than others, but it is possible to prevent our personal lives and our mental health from suffering.

Reading suggestions:

Mental Health
Psychology
Personal Development
Trauma
Habit Building
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