Vicarious/Secondary Trauma
is the emotional and psychological distress experienced by someone who has been exposed to another person’s trauma, often in a professional capacity, such as a social worker, therapist, or lawyer

Compassion Fatigue
is the physical, emotional, and psychological exhaustion that results from a deep and prolonged exposure to the stress and trauma of helping others.

Burnout
is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress.

Interrupting the Impacts of Trauma on Helpers

There are several strategies to support helping professions and people exposed to secondary trauma. These include three main practices:

Training –
provide training and education about vicarious/secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout that include definitions, warning signs, and resources to address, heal, and reset.

Review and practice training concepts –
make sure there are continuing education and continuing discussions about these issues, access to resources, and self-care practices that make recognizing and healing from secondary trauma a possibility. Training and educating on compassion fatigue and burnout are useless without a workplace culture that allows it to be practiced.

Support and supervision –
provide a space for debriefing incidents that may be causing trauma and stress. This can include regular supervisor check-ins, support groups with others in the field, or even staff meeting sessions that allow people to opt-in to sharing and processing incidents with others. Be sure that client/patient confidentiality continues to be protected when needed. Best practice in this area includes supporting staff in choosing where they want to find help and healing. Finding support outside of the workplace allows for more comfort and anonymity for some. Ensure that staff are not required to share and be vulnerable in their workplace if they do not feel comfortable doing so.