Monday, December 10, 2007

Secondary Trauma

Vicarious traumatization (or secondary trauma) can be experienced by a counselor who works with traumatized individuals, whether they work with victims of child maltreatment, domestic violence, victims of torture, or victims of large-scale disasters. "Vicarious traumatization is the process through which the therapist’s inner experience is negatively transformed through empathic engagement with clients’ trauma material" (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995, p. 279). For example, a therapist may experience nightmares related to events in which they have heard graphic details. They may experience fear, may have concerns about their own safety, or they may feel compelled to question own their life experiences or their own vulnerabilities after hearing the stories of survivors.

This whole idea of vicarious trauma is disturbing to me. Hearing people's stories of horror eventually will affect you, whether you are counselor or not. I'm afraid of this, even though I know it will happen in some way or another to me. In my opinion, the more traumatized your clients are, the less clients you should be seeing. It is not a case of being "mentally/emotionally strong enough" to take the stories people tell you. Everyone eventually has their limit on how much they can endure hearing. Every time you hear a story of evil or suffering or incredible pain, it changes you a little. Maybe it shouldn't, but eventually it will. Your ideas about good, love, God, and the nature of the world become different.

I wonder if most counselors don't consider the effect this kind of stuff will have on them and plan accordingly. My personal plan to protect myself involves these factors:

1. An emotionally balanced client load. I want to have a good mix of in-crisis couples, couples not in crisis but wanting better marriages, and couples in pre-marital counseling. Is this realistic? It is if I choose to make it a priority!
2. Not doing more then 25 sessions a week.
3. Maintaining hobbies and interests (passions) outside of work.
4. Spending lots of time with family and friends.
5. Making my relationship with God a priority.
6. Regular vacations and off time.
7. Sports and physical exercise.

I can already tell that this will be incredibly difficult. If you are a counselor, helping professional, minister, or even a helpful friend, take my advice. If you see the warning signs, take action! Change something! Drop some clients, drop some hours, take a vacation, take a leave of absence/sabbatical, or go talk with someone. There is always someone else who can take your position if necessary (why does it have to be you - don't you think God is big enough to send someone else to take care of those you are helping?). How can you help others if you yourself are in desperate need of help? May God help all of us to care for others and to care for ourselves even more (so that we can truly be of help to others).

May Light increase!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you for realizing that you need a plan in order to keep yourself healthy in mind body and spirit in order to help others. I'm glad to see that you are planning for the future and working to avoid burn out.

I know that you'll be a fantastic counsellor. The care and attention that you are putting into preparing for your new role is evidence that you are setting yourself up for success.

Keep on truckin'! You're doing great!

Michele

. said...

i think it is so wise of you to pre-plan and to think this through... i find this to be true even as a friend, i cannot imagine how much more so as a counselor! i think you should re-read this plan of action as often as possible to make sure you stay 'on-track'

last night i dreamt i was given the pre-diagnosis of schizophrenia... the interesting thing was that i wasn't suprised at all, but was expecting it... this, of course, isn't true during my waking hours. interesting how our minds take info/facts/thoughts from the day and turn them into dreams...

Stacey said...

Very wise indeed. I had a 'taste' of this... "counseling" a friend for awhile until I just simply could not take it anymore! ha! I'm just a friend I'm not trained! Really, it was heavy stuff and I knew I was completely incapable. Fortunately, and you'll be proud of me for this, I got her to go to seek a professional counselor's help. I took her there myself--she went willingly--and she is still going. It's awesome to see the changes and the growth.

I admire your passion for this work and your wisdom, now, even looking forward. I applaud all your hard work and am praying for you too.

Mark said...

Thanks for the encouragement people, it means a lot! Yes, I have a plan, hopefully I can implement it!