Over the past two decades, social workers have treated trauma survivors in a variety of settings. Interest has increased in the effect of this work on clinicians. Vicarious traumatization is a concept used to understand the impact of trauma work on clinicians. This article describes a study of social work clinicians working with two types of trauma: (1) the human-induced trauma, sexual abuse, and (2) the naturally caused trauma, cancer. The effect on clinician's cognitive schemas and the confounding variables of personal history of abuse and years' experience are described. Clinicians who worked primarily with clients who were sexually abused reported more disruptions in cognitive schemas than clinicians who worked with clients who had cancer. Implications for social practice and education are described.
Research indicates that high levels of stress, low social support networks, and depression during pregnancy have a powerful negative effect on maternal functioning and infant developmental outcomes. Low-income, inner-city women from ethnic minority groups, whose levels of depression have been documented as higher than their white counterparts, are at increased risk, as are their infants. This article reviews the relevant research literature and proposes that "bundling" several social work treatments intended to reduce or prevent depression, expand social networks, and enhance mothers' knowledge of child development is more effective than any single approach. Joining treatments into one intervention approach offers multiple treatments for multiple problems and can be designed to be evaluated.
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