Vicarious Trauma In Social Work

As social workers we are not always dealing with the easiest of situations, a lot of times we are faced with difficult clients and even more difficult tragedies and situations. A shooting is not an easy situation to deal personally or vicariously. One possibility of having to work with those directly affected is vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is “a process of cognitive change resulting from chronic empathic engagement with trauma survivors” (Pearlman, 1999, p. 52). This is where a person begins to feel trauma based on working or speaking with those who were directly impacted by the shooting. As a clinician if I am hearing consistently and working with those who are directly impacted by a school shooting the experiences and stories will …show more content…
Secondary trauma is also something that is possible in clinicians who are working directly with those affected by a traumatic event. Secondary trauma is a result from “engaging in an empathic relationship with an individual suffering from a traumatic experience” (Newell & MacNeil, 2010). The symptoms of secondary trauma are very similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, all based on the experiences of the client and what they have told the clinician. Both vicarious trauma and secondary trauma are similar but a difference is that vicarious trauma has cognitive change within the person. The clinician may begin to have altered beliefs and thoughts because of the direct work with clients. Then with secondary trauma, a clinician’s outward behavioral symptoms rather than the inward thinking of the person. Another form of trauma for the clinician is compassion fatigue. This is where there is a combination of secondary traumatic and burnout. “The chronic use of empathy combined with the day-to-day bureaucratic hurdles” (Newell & MacNeil, 2010). A combination of both these things day in and day out and not have the proper self-care can take a toll on the