Vicarious Trauma & Compassion Fatigue

As helping professionals, we may not be fully prepared for the psychological, physical, spiritual, and emotional  impact of our work with people impacted by trauma. Historically, attention to vicarious trauma and compassion  fatigue has been relegated to a study module, a one-time discussion, an assigned reading, or agency supervision,  rather than being an integrated component of our daily lives as helpers. This brief workshop will provide an opportunity to explore the benefits of developing a common language around vicarious traumatization, and  explicitly integrating on-going discussions around compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, and self-care into  the fabric of trauma-informed practice.

Goals for the Discussion

Upon conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify how trauma work impacts physical, personal, relational, and spiritual life perspectives.
• Differentiate burnout from compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, secondary traumatic stress,  posttraumatic growth, and vicarious resilience.
• State five vulnerabilities for developing compassion fatigue.
• State five resiliencies for reducing compassion fatigue.
• Heighten awareness of the impact of helping (depleters) from personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal  perspectives.
• Identify personal self-care strategies (replenishers) and heighten awareness of the extent to which current  self-care strategies address the ways participants are depleted.
• Enhance and/or develop new self-care strategies that are practical, efficient, and intentional.