Vicarious Trauma and Professional Self-Care for the Trauma Clinician

Abstract

Shared trauma in the wake of a global pandemic has created a unique bond between the clinician and the client. While navigating one’s own fears, anxieties, and losses, the clinician must also serve as an anchor to the client in an unsteady and unpredictable world. The profound impact of collective catastrophic events can create immense hardship for clinicians living and working in traumatogenic environments. Even outside of the pandemic, clinicians who specialize in the treatment of trauma and complex trauma have a distinct susceptibility to vicarious trauma (VT) due to the repeated exposure to the harrowing details of their clients’ traumatic experiences. VT refers to the experience of indirect trauma which can include the clinicians’ continuous emotional engagement with a clients’ traumatic material. This can create cognitive distortions and changes in core belief systems of the clinician, which, in turn, can adversely impact overall functioning and emotional well-being. Many clinicians enter into the profession to compassionately witness, heal, and affirm their clients due to their own lived experiences of trauma. Without adequate use of clinical supervision, professional boundaries, and self-care, repeated exposure to trauma can be precarious to the clinician’s well-being, causing retraumatization or compassion fatigue. Chapter 11 provides a conceptualization of VT before exploring how this may impact upon the clinician and the therapeutic alliance. Secondly, this chapter reviews the impact of countertransference before proposing strategies to effectively manage its adverse effects. Finally, this chapter explores the role of professional supervision and the importance of self-care for the trauma clinician.