Describe a situation in which you may experience counselor burnout. What factors might contribute to a burnout? Explain how burnout differs from compassion fatigue. How would you work through burnout or compassion fatigue as a counselor?
I work as a HIV/AIDS counselor in a local clinic. The healthcare center is understaffed but receives an overwhelming number of HIV/AIDS patients for counselling sessions. I am the only HIV counselor at the center serving more than 20 patients every day. The center does not provide adequate protective equipment which puts me at risk of infection. The center has poor working conditions and provides few benefits to its health professionals. The heavy case load coupled with undesirable working conditions may trigger workplace stress leading to counselor burnout.
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In this situation, one factor that would contribute to burnout is high work load characterized by attending to an increasing number of HIV patients. Poor working conditions as evidenced by lack of adequate protective equipment leads to fear of infection which is likely to cause burnout.
Burnout is characterized by loss or energy and enthusiasm triggered by intense engagement in emotionally draining crisis scenarios whereas compassion fatigue occurs in scenarios characterized by contionous negative aspects of care provision in demanding work environment involving trauma, tough cases and patients ( Carrola et al., 2016) . As a counselor, I would deal with burnout by identifying current burnout risk factors, creating a prevention plan and engaging in a daily self-care routine.
What is vicarious traumatization? Describe some situations in which you may be vulnerable to vicarious traumatization. How will you overcome this as a counselor?
Vicarious traumatization is a change that manifests when a care provider transforms in a manner that mimics a patient’s trauma situation. A person’s worldview and experience changes negatively following exposure to a client’s trauma ( Molnar et al., 2017) . The condition occurs when a healthcare worker such a counselor is adversely impacted by an intense involvement in care provision for extremely traumatized patients.
As a crisis worker, reading rape cases and interviewing rape victims for extended periods would expose me to vicarious traumatization. The intense interaction with rape victims during counselling sessions may lead to secondary exposure to trauma and consequent manifestation of vicarious traumatization.
Maximizing collegiality and support from colleagues would help me overcome vicarious traumatization. Developing and employing self-care strategies and adopting a healthy lifestyle would contribute to lessening of vicarious trauma. Finding humor in traumatic situations would help alleviate stress and tension. Planning for workload and taking time to learn about topic of research would help me as a counselor overcome vicarious trauma.
References
Carrola, P. A., Olivarez, A., & Karcher, M. J. (2016). Correctional counselor burnout: Examining burnout rates using the Counselor Burnout Inventory. Journal of offender rehabilitation , 55 (3), 195-212.
Molnar, B. E., Sprang, G., Killian, K. D., Gottfried, R., Emery, V., & Bride, B. E. (2017). Advancing science and practice for vicarious traumatization/secondary traumatic stress: A research agenda. Traumatology , 23 (2), 129.
