PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference Vicarious Trauma and Therapist Burnout Presented By: Jennifer Adamczyk-Abusomwan, MA, LPC Jennifer Pravlik, M.ED.,

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference

Vicarious Trauma and Vicarious Trauma and Therapist BurnoutTherapist Burnout

Presented By:Jennifer Adamczyk-Abusomwan, MA, LPC

Jennifer Pravlik, M.ED., LPC

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring

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Objectives• Understand vicarious

traumatization & burnout and how it effects those in the human service field

• Identify signs and symptoms of vicarious traumatization and burnout

• Identify variables that support the development of vicarious traumatization and burnout

• Identify personal self-care and burnout reduction strategies


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Vocabulary

• Vicarious Traumatization• Compassion Fatigue

– Negative aspects of working as a helper

• Burnout– Inefficacy and feeling

overwhelmed• Compassion Satisfaction

– Positive aspects of working as a helper


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Measuring CS & CF: The Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)• The ProQOL is free• A 30 item self report measure of the

positive and negative aspects of caring

• The ProQOL measures Compassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue

• Compassion Fatigue has two subscales– Burnout– Secondary Trauma


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Well Established

• The ProQOL is the most widely used measure of the positive and negative aspects of helping in the world

• The ProQOL has proven to be a valid measure of compassion satisfaction and fatigue

• It has been used for over 15 years• The measure was developed with

data from over 3000 people


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www.proqol.org

For More Information:


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Complete ProQol


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Vicarious & Secondary Traumatization

• Inevitable.• Normal. • Slow.• Cumulative.• Process.


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Variables That Increase Vicarious Traumatization

• Work itself

• Work environment

• Personal characteristics


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Signs And Symptoms

Physical Signs &

• Fatigue• Nightmares related to

consumers’ trauma• Sleep disturbances,

exaggerated startle response, difficulty relaxing

• Physical complaints, headaches, muscle tension, abdominal discomfort, frequent illness

Cognitive Signs

• Forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty making decisions, difficulty concentrating

• Loss of creativity• Loss of efficiency• Preoccupation with

safety of self and loved ones

• Unrealistically high expectations of yourself


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Signs and Symptoms

Emotional Signs &

• Sadness• Emotional numbness• Feelings of

helplessness, hopelessness

• Difficulty regulating your emotions, strong emotional response to minor events

• Denying your own pain or difficulties

Behavioral Signs

• Withdrawal• “Tuning out” while

listening to traumatic stories

• Loss of sense of humor or playfulness

• Disbelief and denial or other’s experience

• Survivor guilt• Loss of compassion • Loss of trust/faith in

humanity


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Therapist Burnout


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Case Vignettes


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Score ProQol


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What Does Your Score Mean?


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Are You Burned Out?


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Defining Burnout

• The definition of burnout is not easily defined

• The Maslach Mutlidimensional Model of burnout (Maslach, 1982)– Three dimensions include:

• Increase in depersonalization• Increase in emotional exhaustion• Decrease in personal

accomplishment


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Why look at burnout?

• It affects at least one third of therapists

• 65 to 75% of helping professionals will experience burnout in the first 3-5 years of their career

• Burnout effects– Therapist– Family of the therapist– Organization– Community– Client


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Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

• Physical and cognitive

• Psychological/Emotional

• Behavioral


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Variables that Increase Burnout

• Gender

• Experience

• Level of training

• Theoretical orientation

• Treatment modality

• Supervision

• Work setting

• Caseload


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Implications Of Burnout


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10 Beliefs That Prevent Helpers From Getting Help


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1. We should not experience personal problems

2. We view personal problems as a sign of inadequacy or failure.

3. We think that there is no safe place for us to get help.

4. We should be aware of all helping resources for all problems.

5. We have helping skills and can take care of ourselves.


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6. We often intellectualize and/or disassociate from the emotional impact of our problems.7. We often counsel family, friends, and significant others… a violation of boundaries.8. We feel responsible for and often take the blame if a family member or significant other has a personal problem.9. We feel embarrassed to seek help from fellow professionals.10. As a result of the above, we often wait longer than others to let people help and often sabotage our own treatment.


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Preventing Burnout and Vicarious Traumatization

•Awareness•Balance•Connections

•What do you do for self-care, fun and balance?


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Vicarious Resilience & Compassion Satisfaction


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Resiliency Planning

• Individual, personally– The ProQOL can help you plan where

to put your energy to increase our resilience

• Organizational planning– Can help organizations find ways to

maximize the positive aspects and reduce the negative aspects of helping

• Supportive Supervision– The ProQOL can be used as

information for discussions


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References

PCCYFS 2012 Annual Spring Conference Vicarious Trauma and Therapist Burnout Presented By: Jennifer Adamczyk-Abusomwan, MA, LPC Jennifer Pravlik, M.ED.,

Documents

lpc slide

helper slide

therapist burnout slide

humanity slide

score proqol slide

complete proqol slide

helper burnout inefficacy

hopelessness difficulty