6.1 Caring for the educator: the challenge of working with traumatised students
6.1 Caring for the educator: the challenge of working with traumatised students
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself”- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Secondary trauma
Secondary traumatic stress has been defined as the experience of stress and distress experienced by those who become aware of a traumatising event impacting another person. According to Charles Figley (1995, p. 6), secondary traumatic stress is “the stress resulting from wanting to help a traumatised or suffering person”. Until recently, when we spoke about persons being traumatised we were speaking of those people who were directly exposed to the trauma. It has only been recently that researchers and practitioners have acknowledged that persons who work with or help traumatised persons are indirectly or secondarily at risk of developing the same symptoms as persons directly affected by the trauma. Clinicians and parents who listen to their clients or children describe the trauma are at risk of absorbing a portion of the trauma.
Secondary traumatic stress is sometimes confused with burnout. It should not be. Pine and Aronson (1981) define burnout as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long term involvement in emotionally demanding situations. Unlike secondary traumatic stress, burnout can be described as emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a reduced feeling of personal accomplishment. Burnout is a condition that begins gradually and becomes progressively worse. Secondary trauma, conversely, can occur following the exposure to a single traumatic event. When there is some interaction between the adult professional (or caregiver) and the traumatised child secondary trauma can occur.
Secondary traumatic stress refers to the presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms caused by at least one indirect exposure to traumatic material. Several other terms capture elements of this definition but are not all interchangeable with it.
Table 6.1 Secondary stress and related conditions: sorting one from another
| Compassion fatigue, a less stigmatising way to describe secondary trauma stress, has been used interchangeably with this term. | Vicarious trauma refers to the changes in the inner experience of the therapist resulting from empathetic engagement with a traumatised client. it is a theoretical term that focuses less on trauma symptoms and more on the convert cognitive changes that occur following cumulative exposure to another person’s traumatic material. |
| Compassion satisfaction refers to the positive feelings derived from competent performance as a trauma professional. It is characterised by positive relationships with colleagues, and the conviction that one’s work makes a meaningful contribution to clients and society. | Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and a reduced feeling of personal accomplishment. While it is also