Managing traumatic stress responses among clinicians: Individual and organizational tools for self-care

Abstract

There is a growing interest in conceptual frameworks related to preventing stress responses among mental health clinicians working with survivors of trauma. The following paper comprehensively compares and contrasts vicarious traumatization with compassion fatigue (i.e. secondary trauma), and it considers how these two traumatic stress responses can lead to professional burnout. It reviews the historical development and empirical support related to the effects of trauma work on clinicians, and it provides practical guidelines for both individuals and organizations to protect clinicians from traumatic stress responses.