Today, the services of social workers are needed in numerous cases to help traumatized people. The outcome of this is that social workers are placed an increased danger of experiencing vicarious trauma, which is a type of unintended suffering that occurs when social workers deal with traumatized people.
This paper discusses vicarious trauma in the social work field, its effects among social work practitioners and how social workers can combat it.
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Vicarious Trauma
Social workers are required to develop empathy with traumatized people to help them. Empathy entails understanding another person’s feelings. The need to develop empathy with other people means that social workers who help traumatized people also acquire some emotional, mental, and physiological outcomes of the trauma (Quitangon & Evces, 2015). Besides, social workers must be accessed easily by traumatized people to understand their specific issues (Congress & González, 2013). Vicarious trauma emerges out of the damage the social workers feel when empathizing with the people they are attempting to assist. Vicarious trauma entails the personal damage and stress caused by assisting or desiring to assist a traumatized individual (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018). The main idea is that practitioners who work with traumatized people by attempting to assist them also acquire part of their clients’ emotional trauma.
There are different forms of vicarious trauma. For example, vicarious trauma may occur over an extended period or it may occur due to one traumatic experience (Quitangon & Evces, 2015). Social workers are exposed to different and many cases, which causes vicarious trauma over time (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018). Shocking and serious cases can cause trauma among social workers rapidly. These cases are mostly those ones that attract an increased public attention (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018). During such situations, a social worker is exposed to different stresses due to the reaction of the public and the increased scrutiny that social workers and departments must handle. Single vicarious trauma cases can become part of an extended burnout of a social worker. For social workers whose extended vicarious trauma was not handled properly, a single case can be a tipping point (Congress & González, 2013)
Social workers who help offenders are vicariously traumatized because they must suppress their emotions and personal views (Quitangon & Evces, 2015). During these situations, the effectiveness of the social worker is significantly affected because of their need to control anger and disgust while attempting to treat and empathize with the offenders (Congress & González, 2013). Social workers can experience abuse, violence and direct trauma at the hands of people they are trying to help (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018). Social workers in such situations may be exposed to continuing anxiety and fear regarding the possibility of a violent situation recurring, which increases the effects of trauma, particularly if the social workers are exposed to an identical case.
How Vicarious Trauma Affects Social Workers
Vicarious trauma among social workers can lead to compassion fatigue because of the need to emotionally invest in different situations in combination with many cases and inadequate time to recover (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018).
Vicarious trauma can also lead to confidence loss, distrust, emotional numbing and low self-esteem (Management Association, Information Resources, 2018). Low-quality care can also emerge as vicarious trauma can lead to the depersonalization of the clients that the social worker assists, which will make the social worker not to empathize with the people to support them adequately (Quitangon & Evces, 2015). Nausea and headaches can also emerge due reflection of the trauma regarding specific situations and worries (Congress & González, 2013).
How Social Workers can Combat Vicarious Trauma
The first strategy to combat vicarious trauma is to prevent its occurrence. Many strategies for prevention highlight the significance of offering sufficient managerial supervision levels and mechanisms for peer support. These strategies ensure that social workers are not separated from their groups, and assist managers and colleagues to help each other to the benefit of the clients (Congress & González, 2013).
Organizations or managers can establish a balance between the adverse effects of helping traumatized people and the need to recognize social workers for their excellent work and give them time to heal following challenging cases (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018).
Organizations can also cultivate a culture of recognizing the severity of vicarious trauma to give social workers an outlet through which they can voice their fears and get assistance (Congress & González, 2013). Long-term vicarious trauma forms can effectively be handled through support and supervision. Nevertheless, organizations should create times to completely debrief social workers to handle severe single traumas, which will help future education and enable social workers to remain effective and move on (Management Association & Information Resources, 2018).
Vicarious trauma can adversely affect the morale of a team and dismantle groups that can act as the support network. Thus, it is vital for the social work service to concentrate on the significance of its work and to remain aware of its effectiveness to combat vicarious trauma (Quitangon & Evces, 2015).
In conclusion, vicarious trauma is a social work aspect that entails taking care of other people. Nevertheless, it can be a serious issue for social workers who help traumatized people. Social workers are mostly exposed to people who require assistance and developing empathy with people is a vital part of that role. However, empathizing with people means acquiring part of their trauma, which leads to adverse extended psychological and emotional outcomes. Social workers can remain effective and get good outcomes for traumatized people if they can access assistance and support they need to shield themselves.
References
Congress, E. P., & González, M. J. (2013). Multicultural perspectives in social work practice with families . New York: Springer Pub. Company.
Management Association, Information Resources (Ed.). (2018). Social issues in the workplace: Breakthroughs in research and practice . Hershey: Business Science Reference, an imprint of IGI Global.
Quitangon, G., & Evces, M. R. (2015). Vicarious trauma and disaster mental health: Understanding risks and promoting resilience . New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
