Strategies for the frontline: Building protections against vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, moral injury and burnout

Many professions routinely engage with people who have experienced trauma or abuse. Contact may be in-person, via phone, report reading, transcribing or images. It may be one-off or ongoing contact. Bearing witness to the suffering of others can shift and change our worldview. It can lead to a reassessment of assumptions and beliefs about our personal safety and the safety of loved ones. It may precipitate an existential crisis.

The cumulative impacts of such exposure if unaddressed, can affect mental and physical health, personal relationships, and professional capacity. Common experiences include PTSD like symptoms such as emotional overwhelm or shut down, irritability, rage, cynicism, disengagement from loved ones and community, sleeping difficulties, changes in eating behaviour, libido, and substance misuse.

Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, moral injury and burn-out are different but may co-occur. Grief adds another dimension of complexity. Discerning the differences and similarities assists in addressing symptoms and behaviours in effective and meaningful ways.

Exposure to the trauma of others can also lead to vicarious post-traumatic growth or vicarious resilience. Vicarious resilience describes the growth that may develop through witnessing the experiences and triumphs of victims under adverse circumstances. It is a positive transformation in one’s worldview and spirituality in response to helping others in some capacity live through trauma.

Support to address adverse impacts of your work on your health and wellbeing is a vital aspect of your professional rights and personal responsibilities. This training will explore the impact of your work and provide strategies to mitigate negative impacts and build resilience.