What is vicarious trauma?
You’ve probably heard the term ‘vicarious trauma’ in the course of your work, either during continual professional development training, supervisions, or maybe even in our 2023 Safeguarding Adults Week bulletin on the subject. But, what does it really mean?
The British Medical Association describes it as “a process of change resulting from empathetic engagement with trauma survivors” (Vicarious trauma: signs and strategies for coping, 2024). The term describes how we can be changed as a result of our exposure to the trauma experienced by others. This could be through hearing recounted experiences, watching videos about traumatic events, reading case files, or responding to traumatic incidents.
So, how is it relevant to us?
Vicarious trauma can affect anyone, but workers who engage empathetically with trauma survivors are particularly at risk. Whether you’re a health worker, social care worker, carer, or work for one of the voluntary or emergency services, you’re likely exposed to trauma victims on a regular basis. When we start to connect with people who have experienced trauma, and we seek to understand their experiences as part of our work, their trauma can ignite our own trauma response.
How do I recognise it in myself and others?
Vicarious trauma won’t look the same for everyone, but there are some signs that you should be aware of. These include:
- experiencing anger, frustration, anxiety, or intrusive thoughts, which are centred on the trauma, and continue outside of work;
- experiencing feelings of bystander guilt, shame, or feelings of self-doubt about your ability to support the individual;
- difficulties managing professional boundaries with the trauma survivor;
- experiencing disturbed sleep;
- distancing yourself from others, and withdrawing from activities that you would usually enjoy.
You can see from these signs that vicarious trauma can impact us not only in our professional life, but also in our personal life, impacting our health, wellbeing, and our relationships.
What can I do to reduce the risk of experiencing vicarious trauma?
There are strategies and coping mechanisms that we can put in place, though, to reduce the risk, and the impact, of vicarious trauma.
If you recognise that you may be at risk of, or experiencing, vicarious trauma, you should:
- ensure that you are discussing the impact of your work with your line manager;
- define your work boundaries, including what is, and isn’t, within your power to change;
- seek support from your employee assistance programme;
- make sure that you are sleeping, eating well, and getting enough fresh air and exercise.
If you’re concerned that somebody in your team is at risk of, or experiencing, vicarious trauma, you can:
- make sure that you are mindful of vicarious trauma during supervisions and when discussing caseloads;
- monitor caseload allocation to ensure that high-risk cases are shared amongst your team, rather than sitting with select workers;
- support workers to have clear work boundaries, including protected time for low-risk work, and a healthy work-life balance.
What should we be considering at an organisational level?
Organisations also need to take responsibility for raising awareness of, and supporting workers at risk of, vicarious trauma through the course of their work. This means that organisations should be promoting awareness of vicarious trauma through policies and procedures, including as a key component of supervisions and case management meetings. It should factor into both induction and mandatory continual professional development training, and should be included in the support offered by any employee assistance programmes utilised by the organisation.
Recognising and implementing strategies to cope with vicarious trauma in the workplace is important for successful service delivery. But it’s more than that. It’s about protecting the single-most important part of any organisation; its workers (that’s right, it’s you).
