Mental Health Professionals' Experiences of Vicarious Traumatization in Post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans

Culver, Leslie M.; McKinney, Bridget L.; Paradise, Louis V.

doi:10.1080/15325024.2010.519279

Cited by 33 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Research has also shown that health professionals are especially vulnerable if experiencing the same traumatic exposure as their clients, as evidenced by studies on 9/11 18 and Hurricane Katrina. 19,20 The current study has also shown that factors that may usually mitigate the risk of adverse mental health outcomes among mental health professionals have been compromised in the current pandemic context; including reduced contact with supervisors and peers, personal and professional isolation, lack of opportunity to engage in stress-reduction activities because of social restrictions, and lack of attention to and prioritisation of self-care. This in combination highlights an urgent need to attend to the mental health and well-being of the mental health professionals who are supporting the front-line workforce.…”

Section: The Need To Attend To the Mental Health Of Mental Health Promentioning

confidence: 77%

Experiences of mental health professionals supporting front-line health and social care workers during COVID-19: qualitative study

et al. 2021

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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a well-documented impact on the mental health of front-line health and social care workers (HSCWs). However, little attention has been paid to the experiences of, and impact on, the mental health professionals who were rapidly tasked with supporting them. Aims We set out to redress this gap by qualitatively exploring UK mental health professionals’ experiences, views and needs while working to support the well-being of front-line HSCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method Mental health professionals working in roles supporting front-line HSCWs were recruited purposively and interviewed remotely. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed by the research team following the principles of reflexive thematic analysis. Results We completed interviews with 28 mental health professionals from varied professional backgrounds, career stages and settings across the UK. Mental health professionals were motivated and driven to develop new clinical pathways to support HSCWs they perceived as colleagues and many experienced professional growth. However, this also came at some costs, as they took on additional responsibilities and increased workloads, were anxious and uncertain about how best to support this workforce and tended to neglect their own health and well-being. Many were professionally isolated and were affected vicariously by the traumas and moral injuries that healthcare workers talked about in sessions. Conclusions This research highlights the urgent need to consider the mental well-being, training and support of mental health professionals who are supporting front-line workers.

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Section: The Need To Attend To the Mental Health Of Mental Health Promentioning

confidence: 77%

Experiences of mental health professionals supporting front-line health and social care workers during COVID-19: qualitative study

et al. 2021

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“…Overall, VT describes the communal experience after natural disasters and large traumatic events in which populations are collectively affected (Abramowitz, ). Previous research used multiple labels for this type of trauma, such as secondary traumatic stress (Creamer & Liddle, ), vicarious traumatization (Culver, McKinney, & Paradise, ), and collective trauma (Everly et al, ). Irrespective of the terminology, however, research shows that indirectly affected individuals develop psychological symptoms similar to those reported by individuals who experienced the traumatic event directly (Everly et al, ), including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Birnbaum, ).…”

Section: Vtmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping With Vicarious Trauma in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster

Smith

Bernal

Schwartz

et al. 2014

J Multicult Couns & Deve

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This study documents the vicarious psychological impact of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti on Haitians living in the United States. The role of coping resources-family, religious, and community support-was explored. The results highlight the importance of family and community as coping strategies to manage such trauma.Keywords: vicarious trauma, natural disaster, coping Este estudio documenta el impacto psicológico vicario que tuvo el terremoto de 2010 en Haití sobre los residentes haitianos que viven en Estados Unidos. Se explora el papel de los recursos de afrontamiento-apoyo familiar, religioso y comunitario. Lo resultados destacan la importancia de la familia y la comunidad como estrategias de afrontamiento para superar un trauma de esas características.Palabras Clave: trauma vicario, desastre natural, afrontamiento R esearch has shown that natural disasters have an impact on survivors (Benight et al., 1999) as well as those outside of the disaster zone (Shalev, Tuval-Mashiach, & Hadar, 2004). Although less is known regarding those who are not directly affected, the limited research indicates that individuals outside the disaster zone may experience trauma symptoms similar to those reported by individuals who experienced the traumatic event (Everly, Boyle, & Lating, 1999), which may be defined as vicarious trauma (VT). Our article highlights (a) the VT symptoms resulting from one such natural disaster, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and (b) the coping strategies used to manage such trauma by Haitians/Haitian Americans.

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“…Introduced by McCann and Pearlman (1990), vicarious traumatisation describes one kind of transformation therapists may undergo due to empathic engagement with clients' trauma material resulting in negative coping, high stress levels, and negative countertransferences (Ahmadi et al 2011;Brady et al 1999;Culver Jankoski 2010;Culver et al 2011;Collins and Long 2003;Jenkins and Baird 2002). A more psychoanalytic understanding of vicarious traumatisation can be put forward in keeping with the earlier description of child sexual abuse as (Ralph 2001, p. 286).…”

Section: A Psychoanalytic Understanding Of Vicarious Traumatisationmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…This blocking can lead to defensive enactments of intolerable emotions-by means of reaction formation, for example, anger and helplessness might manifest as compassion and concern, or grief and shock as anger and rage (McElroy and McElroy 1991;McWilliams 1994;Shevade et al 2011). By processing negative countertransferences, exploring their potential emotional range, and maintaining awareness of dispositions toward splitting, workers could circumvent vicarious traumatisation due to prolonged engagement with potent child sexual abuse narratives (Ahmadi et al 2011;Culver et al 2011;Schneider 2003).…”

Section: …A Piece Of Madness Is Forced Into [The Child] So That the Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Sexual Abuse Workers’ Emotional Experiences of Working Therapeutically in the Western Cape, South Africa

Capri

Kruger

Tomlinson

2012

Child Adolesc Soc Work J

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South African child sexual abuse workers active in low-income communities bear witness to stories of sexual and physical abuse, neglect, pervasive deprivation, and violence. North American, British, and European workers' emotional experiences have been captured in the literature, and a gap remains to be filled by those of their South African colleagues. This research aims to focus on the emotional experiences of social workers who engage therapeutically with sexually abused children in the Helderberg basin of the Western Cape, and resonate in some way with readers working in situations of poverty and trauma in other parts of the world. This study employed an explorative inductive research method, and followed a critical realist and contextual constructionist approach. Multiple-case study data collection took place by means of semi-structured interviews with social workers who engage therapeutically with sexually abused children. Data were examined by means of thematic analysis, and psychoanalytic theory was employed to analyse defences that surfaced during interviews. There were similarities in emotional experiences between South African participants and their abovementioned counterparts. The research also identified salient features of working with child sexual abuse in South Africa. The emotional experiences of doing such work, coupled with participants' ways of managing sexually abused children's material, gave rise to possible vicarious traumatisation symptoms and allowed for a psychoanalytic understanding to be put forward. The research also reports on useful measures that might enable individuals to continue interventions. To enable ongoing effective therapeutic engagement, social workers should have access to opportunities for acknowledging countertransferences and processing dynamic material defended against. The research contributes to knowledge of working in South Africa by exploring the emotional experiences of those who help sexually abused children daily, and by investigating the psychological impact prolonged therapeutic engagement has on workers active in Western Cape low-income communities.

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Mental Health Professionals' Experiences of Vicarious Traumatization in Post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans

Cited by 33 publications

References 7 publications

Experiences of mental health professionals supporting front-line health and social care workers during COVID-19: qualitative study

Experiences of mental health professionals supporting front-line health and social care workers during COVID-19: qualitative study

Coping With Vicarious Trauma in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster

Child Sexual Abuse Workers’ Emotional Experiences of Working Therapeutically in the Western Cape, South Africa

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