What is vicarious trauma?
Working with trauma survivors is important and meaningful work. The experience of having someone trust us enough to share their stories and emotional distress, as well as their strength and resilience, is extremely rewarding and inspiring. However, this process of deeply engaging with people's fear, pain and suffering can leave us feeling raw, vulnerable, angry, powerless and hopeless. The emotional residue of exposure to the stories of our traumatised clients or distressing and graphic material, is referred to as vicarious trauma.
Vicarious traumatisation is a helpful framework for understanding these effects which can include changes in our belief systems, secondary traumatic stress (PTSD-like symptoms), empathy fatigue and behavioural changes which are our best efforts to cope and can include substance misuse, overworking/avoidance and social withdrawal.
Whilst vicarious trauma is an occupational risk for people working with survivors of trauma, it is not an inevitable outcome. An organisational culture that normalises the effects of working with trauma can help to create a supportive environment in which professionals feel able to ask for help without feeling inadequate or ineffective. Helpful structures which mitigate the risk of vicarious trauma include training, reflective practice and clinical support, as well as providing access to external psychological support.
Vicarous resilience and post-traumatic growth
Vicarious resilience and post-traumatic growth refer to the positive psychological changes experienced by professionals who are exposed to trauma through their work, but who describe a deepened sense of empathy and compassion, a greater appreciation for life, and a stronger sense of purpose and meaning as a consequence of their roles. These growth experiences can sit alongside the challenges of working in potentially traumatising contexts and are often shaped by the support we receive, the connections we form, and our ability to reflect on the stories of survival and strength we witness.
