Identifying, Preventing, and Addressing Job Burnout and Vicarious Burnout for Social Work Professionals

Abstract

Genuineness, concern for others, and empathy are characteristics used to describe the professional social worker. To this end, the social worker tirelessly works on behalf of and in collaboration with the client to move them from stagnant life situations into positive life situations. While the fundamental principles of social work are wonderful, the result for some workers is job burnout and/or vicarious trauma. The concepts of job burnout, its antecedents, and manifestations are thoroughly discussed in this article to provide a holistic overview of this phenomenon. The six antecedents: workload, control, values, fairness, reward, and community are discussed and linked to the manifestations of job burnout. When working with individuals who have been exposed to the depravity of life, the professional can take on the client's vulnerabilities, victimizations, and stress. The common term for this phenomenon is vicarious trauma. Professionals who work with trauma victims can often have issues in their personal and professional life as evidenced by reduced professional efficacy, increased emotional concerns, and physical concerns. The purpose of the author in this article is to provide an overview of job burnout, vicarious trauma, and a discussion about self-care responsibilities.

Professional Interpreters and Vicarious Trauma: An Australian Perspective

“…Effective empathic responses enable professionals to see the client’s world as they do while making professional judgment and helping clients make sense of their world. While this benefits clients, helpers must be made aware that the emotional hangover of empathy can develop into burnout and VT (Wilson, 2016). Empathy can arise in the course of, or around, one’s interpreting practice, which “brings up our own issues, our own life experiences, our own thoughts and feelings” (Harvey, 2003, p. 211).…”

Resilience as a moderator of stress and burnout: A study of women social workers in India

“…Clinical supervision, the use of support and ongoing training are some organisational variables identified by social workers as ameliorating experiences associated with vicarious traumatisation (Pack, 2014). Organisations must create a culture that appropriately responds to stress and manifestations of vicarious burnout in employees (Wilson, 2016). Social work agencies need to foster a work ethos that is supportive and growth oriented and takes into consideration factors that promote autonomy, realistic workloads and the provision of needed resources, so that work efficacy is maximised as well as staff morale and job satisfaction.…”

Síndrome de burnout en el Sistema de Salud: el caso de las trabajadoras sociales sanitarias

“…Respecto a las trabajadoras sociales se ha evidenciado que, los componentes de empatía pueden prevenir o reducir el burnout y el estrés traumático secundario, por lo que se defiende que la capacitación en habilidades y empatía se incorpore dentro de su formación universitaria (28) . De igual modo, al tratarse de una profesión que interviene con frecuencia en problemáticas traumáticas, para evitar el agotamiento debe formarse a los profesionales en el desarrollo de prácticas y estrategias de autocuidado (29) .…”