As counselors we often offer compassion to our clients and support them in cultivating it for themselves; however, this aspect of counselor development may be absent in our own self-care practices. How do counselors cultivate self-compassion given the myriad of challenges that arise in their practice? Although there is a wealth of research on counselor self-care, very little of this research addresses the construct of self-compassion as a means of enhancing counselors' well-being and mitigating the effects of job-related stress. A narrative research design was used to investigate how 15 experienced counselors practice self-compassion in counseling. Themes that emerged in this study, based on the experiences of the participants, provide important information for training and educating practitioners in the areas of self-care and burnout prevention, and enhance our understanding of the role of self-compassion in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy.

Journalists who witness trauma and disaster events are at risk for physical, emotional, and psychological injury. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a critical ethnographic study among 31 Canadian journalists and photojournalists with regard to coping strategies used to buffer the effects of being exposed to trauma and disaster events and work-related stress. The findings are the result of in-depth individual interviews and six workplace observations with journalists across Canada. The most commonly reported coping strategies were: avoidance strategies at work, use of black humor, controlling one's emotions and memories, exercise and other physical activities, focusing on the technical aspects, and using substances. Recommendations for addressing the effects of work-related stress within this population are provided.

There are child soldiers fighting with government forces and opposition groups in more than 30 countries worldwide. Although studies have been conducted on the impact of war-related trauma on children, very few have focused on those children who do not exhibit trauma-related symptoms after experiencing armed combat. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand some of the mechanisms and resources that resilient children draw upon to overcome the trauma of child soldiering. Six Colombian child soldiers were recruited through purposive sampling techniques to participate in a narrative study focusing on their lived experiences and their personal understanding of how they were able to overcome the effects of war trauma. Six narrative themes were identified and discussed in terms of the literature on trauma and childhood resilience and also related to counselling needs and services.

In the past decade, there has been an increased awareness of the deleterious effects for professionals working in the field of trauma. Claims have been made that professionals working with traumatized clients are vulnerable and at risk of developing trauma symptoms similar to those experienced by their clients. Terms used to describe this phenomenon are “vicarious traumatization” and “secondary traumatic stress.” The results of survey data collected from 280 Canadian mental health professions on work setting and client type variables, personal histories of trauma, current levels of traumatic stress symptoms, and self-report ratings on experiencing secondary traumatic stress are reported. Implications for mental health professionals working in the field of trauma are addressed.

No abstract