Search results for ‘Subject term:"mental health problems"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 2 of 2
Hidden trauma victims: understanding and preventing traumatic stress in mental health professionals
- Authors:
- KANNO Hanae, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Social Work in Mental Health, 15(3), 2017, pp.331-353.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Mental health professionals, including social workers, are often exposed to the traumatic experiences of clients in their work with victims of violence, crime, and disaster. Given their empathetic engagement with traumatised victims, they may experience severe emotional reactions such as terror, grief, and rage. Empirical evidence identifies these emotional reactions as “traumatic stress” including burnout, Traumatic Countertransference (TC), Vicarious Trauma (VT), and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)/Compassion Fatigue (CF). In this study, the history and definition of each traumatic stress are examined, and differences among them are explored. Preventive strategies for reducing traumatic stress in mental health professionals are discussed. (Edited publisher abstract)
Supporting indirectly traumatized populations: the need to assess secondary traumatic stress for helping professionals in DSM-V
- Author:
- KANNO Hanae
- Journal article citation:
- Health and Social Work, 35(3), August 2010, pp.225-227.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This short article calls for secondary traumatic stress (STS) to be addressed in the helping professions which are exposed to risk of the condition. Since the 1980s, concern has increased about how a challenging workplace, consisting of traumatised victims of violence and crime, affect those professionals who try to help these individuals. Research has shown that these professionals tend to develop occupational stress symptoms, which mirror those that appear in people directly exposed to trauma, including imagery related to the clients’ traumatic disclosure, avoidant responses, emotional numbing, psychological somatic problems, and functional impairment. The result of this is often high staff turnover leading to loss of valuable experience. The article concludes that helping professionals must be protected from STS in order to best help clients deal with their own traumas.