The Shared Traumatic and Professional Posttraumatic Growth Inventory

Abstract

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.

Advising Master’s Students Pursuing Doctoral Study: A Survey of Counselor Educators and Supervisors

“…A focus and specialty has emerged in most mental health agencies in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina around issues of trauma. Consequently, the study of trauma has become quite popular in the professional literature (see Alvarez, 2009;Brown-Rice, 2013;Buss, Warren, & Horton, 2015;Cohen et al, 2009;Fernandez & Short, 2014;Hudspeth, 2015;Jones & Cureton, 2014;Jaycox et al, 2010;Langley et al, 2013;Parker & Henfield, 2012;Tosone, Bauwens, & Glassman, 2014). As one mental health professional pointed out, a natural disaster not only precipitates the distress resulting from the crisis experiences, but also brings unresolved prior trauma to the surface for many clients.…”

Shelter From the Storm: Addressing Vicarious Traumatization Through Wellness-Based Clinical Supervision

“…Consequently, the study of trauma has become quite popular in the professional literature (see Alvarez, 2009;Brown-Rice, 2013;Buss, Warren, & Horton, 2015;Cohen et al, 2009;Fernandez & Short, 2014;Hudspeth, 2015;Jones & Cureton, 2014;Jaycox et al, 2010;Langley et al, 2013;Parker & Henfield, 2012;Tosone, Bauwens, & Glassman, 2014). As one mental health professional pointed out, a natural disaster not only precipitates the distress resulting from the crisis experiences, but also brings unresolved prior trauma to the surface for many clients.…”

Post-disaster social work research: A scoping review of the evidence for practice

“…These 38 articles related to 35 different empirical studies. Three articles related to one study after the Sri Lankan tsunami (Dominelli, 2014, Dominelli, 2015, Vickers and Dominelli, 2015, two articles related to one post-hurricane study in the USA (Tosone et al, 2016, Tosone et al, 2015, two articles related to one study related to the Wenchuan Earthquake in China (Huang et al, 2014, Huang andWong, 2013). Table 3 summarises the nature of these articles by way of disaster type and location and shows that most studies relating to social work and disasters have been published in the United States and focus on hurricanes.…”

“…Of note is that many of these studies were conducted by researchers located outside of the country where the disaster occurred (Becker, 2009, Benson et al, 2016, Cooper et al, 2018, Dominelli, 2014, Dominelli, 2015, Doostgharin, 2009, Drolet and Sampson, 2017, Huang et al, 2014, Huang and Wong, 2013, Larson et al, 2015, Pentaraki, 2013, Powell and Leytham, 2014, Sim et al, 2013, Vickers and Dominelli, 2015. Studies of disasters in Australia, Barbados, Finland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA were conducted by researchers from within those countries (Bell, 2008, Chae et al, 2005, Harms et al, 2015, Hawkins and Maurer, 2010, Hickson and Lehmann, 2014, Kreuger and Stretch, 2003, Kulkarni et al, 2008, Leitch et al, 2009, Lemieux et al, 2010, Liu and Mishna, 2014, Marlowe, 2015, Plummer et al, 2008, Pyles, 2011, Rock and Corbin, 2007, Tang and Cheung, 2007, Tosone et al, 2016, Tosone et al, 2015, Tudor et al, 2015, First et al, 2018, Fogel, 2017, Kranke et al, 2017, Prost et al, 2018, Rapeli, 2018. Disasters occurring in China, Iran and New Zealand also had studies that involved collaborations of both insider a...…”

“…Many of these articles highlighted the effects of disasters on people and communities, particularly as it relates to mental health outcomes and grief and loss (Chae et al, 2005, Doostgharin, 2009, First et al, 2018, Harms et al, 2015, Huang and Wong, 2013, Kreuger and Stretch, 2003, Lemieux et al, 2010, Plummer et al, 2008, Tosone et al, 2016. The negative effects on mental health and complicated grief and loss associated with the disaster events was common for survivors in all these studies.…”