Secondary Trauma, Vicarious Trauma, and Compassion Fatigue

Dr. Lisa Cohen Bennett

Training Description

This 4-hour course is designed to provide staff serving in Group Homes and Short-Term Residential Treatment Programs (STRTP) behavior management strategies for working with traumatized youth and families. The aim of the course is to assist adults helping severely emotionally disturbed youth and families have some clarity about how working with trauma creates trauma. It is a common experience for mental health professionals, particularly those working with System Involved youth and families. Children, Teens and Adults trying to access services and support through various systems often have familial trauma, education trauma, medical trauma along with traumatizing situations attempting to obtain mental health assistance. Therefore, people working with them can be triggered by secondary or vicarious trauma and must watch for signs and symptoms as address these in order to ensure that they are able to provide the most effective support to system involved youth.

Learning Objectives

● Define Secondary Trauma, Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue

● Define symptoms of Secondary Trauma, Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue

● Identify personal situations leading to potential secondary trauma along with symptoms

● Describe ways to effectively address secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue and help ensure quality services and support can continue to be provided for youth.

Agenda

9:30 am –10:00am Introduction and Review Severe Emotional Disturbance

· Welcome & Introduction of instructor, students/class objectives

· Overview: Severe Emotional Disturbance Template:

10:00 -10:30am  Define differences:

1) External Stressors

2) Transference/Counter-transference

3) Secondary Trauma(STS)/Vicarious Trauma(VT)/Compassion Fatigue(CF)

10:30 -11:30am  Watch “21 Jump Street Episode” and discuss

· “Best Years of Your Life” Season 2, Episode 20. First aired May 1, 1988 (45.43 minutes)

11:30am -12:00pm List possible situations, behaviors, youth or families that might be a set up for secondary trauma:

· Hearing about situations which may include:

o Rape

o Excessive sadness

o Withdrawal

o Lack of empathy toward others

12:00-12:30pm  Lunch Break (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

12:30–1:00pm Possible symptoms of STS (on board)

· Share article: “Warning Signs of Vicarious Trauma/Secondary Traumatic Stress and Compassion Fatigue” November 3, 2017: https://www.tendacademy.ca/warning-signs-of-vicarious-traumasecondary-traumatic-stress-and-compassion-fatigue/

1:00-2:00pm  Take and discuss Compassion Fatigue Test from American Continuing Education

· http://www.valueoptions.com/providers/Education_Center/Training_Workshops/Handouts/032106/032106_Compassion_Fatigue_Test_from_ACE.pdf

· After taking the test and scoring, get in small groups and discuss:

· Score

§ Self appraisal (why did I get that score)

· What do I need to do to help myself

2:00-3:00pm  Delving deeper into specific work each participant does:

· https://www.ncacc.org/DocumentCenter/View/4796/CF-Handout-3---Worksheets

1) Using the above link, pages 1 & 2, ask the questions in the large group, including:

· Does your work place have “continually dwindling resources, exposure to loss, pain, death and suffering?”

· “Where do the stories go? What do you do at the end of each work day with client stories?”

· “Were you trained for this? Did your training offer education on ways to address vicarious trauma?”

3:00-3:30pm  Watch Film Clip “Manic” (2003, Clip time 46.40 - 31.58 = 14. 82 minutes) and discuss

3:30-4:00pm  Page 3 of above link: Signs and Symptoms + page 5: What’s on Your Plate

· Go over list on page 3 and see which ones participants are experiencing

· Go to the “plate” on page 5. Have each participant fill in the circle. Discuss

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm  Tools for Remaining Effective

· Pages 6 & 7 of above link; exploring what participant does/did/can do to effectively address secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue.

· Go over the following handout: Tools for Remaining Effective

Meet Our Trainer

Dr. Lisa Cohen Bennett is a licensed psychologist who has over forty years experience treating severely emotionally disturbed (SED) /traumatized children, adolescents and their families. Dr. Bennett has worked in a variety of settings including Residential Treatment, Runaway Shelter, County Mental Health and Clinics. She has over twenty-five years experience teaching Foster Parents, Adoptive Parents, Group Home/STRTP Staff, Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Psychologists, Psychiatrists and Teachers in California and Nationally. Dr. Bennett also has a private practice where she treats adolescents and adults dealing with current and historic trauma.

This course meets the qualifications for (6.5) BBS CEUs for LCSWs and MFTs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.