Concepts describing secondary trauma phenomena do not adequately capture the profound impact that collective catastrophic events can have on mental health professionals living and working in traumatogenic environments. Shared trauma, by contrast, contains aspects of primary and secondary trauma, and more accurately describes the extraordinary experiences of clinicians exposed to the same community trauma as their clients. Case vignettes from clinicians in Manhattan and Sderot, Israel are provided to illustrate the transformative changes that clinicians may undergo as a result of dual exposure to trauma. Discussion involves the importance of articulating one's own trauma narrative and attending to self-care prior to resuming clinical work, as well as opportunities for enhanced therapeutic intimacy and caution regarding boundary alterations that may result from clinician self-disclosure. Agency settings can provide the necessary education, supervision, and support to mitigate the negative effects of shared trauma.

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A sample of 481 social workers from Manhattan participated in a study of the impact of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) World Trade Center (WTC) attacks. A variety of risk factors associated with posttraumatic stress and secondary trauma were examined in relation to shared traumatic stress (STS), a supraordinate construct reflecting the dual nature of exposure to traumatic events. Risk factors included attachment style, exposure to potentially traumatic life events, and enduring distress attributed to the WTC attacks. It was expected that clinicians' resilience would mediate the relationship between these risk factors and STS. Using path analytic modeling, the findings support the study's hypotheses that insecure attachment, greater exposure to potentially traumatic life events in general, and the events of 9/11 in particular are predictive of higher levels of STS. Contrary to expectation, enduring distress attributed to 9/11 was not associated with resilience. Resilience, however, was found to be a mediator of the relationships between insecure attachment, exposure to potentially traumatic life events, and STS but did not mediate the relationship between enduring distress attributed to 9/11 and STS. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Purpose: While there are established instruments offering psychometrically sound measurement of primary or secondary trauma, none capture the essence of dual exposure for mental health professionals living and working in traumatological environments. Methods: This study examined the experience of 244 mental health workers who lived and worked in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. An instrument, the Shared Trauma and Professional Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (STPPG), a 14-item, Likert-type scale composed of three subscales (Technique-Specific Shared Trauma, Personal Trauma, and Professional Posttraumatic Growth), was developed to understand the nature of dual trauma exposure. Results: The STPPG supports the reciprocal nature of shared trauma and correlates well to existing measures for posttraumatic stress, secondary trauma, shared trauma, and posttraumatic growth. Discussion: The STPPG suggests that personal traumatic experience can impact professional practice, and client traumatic narratives influence one's personal trauma responses. Implications of STPPG for practice and future research are discussed.