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The paradox of the wounded healer-the one called to look after their own wounds while at the same time remaining prepared to heal the wounds of others-is a metaphor rich in biblical allusion, providing a profound entry point for those interested in contemplating the person and work of Christ (Nouwen, 1979)- It is also a metaphor that captures the experience of many mental health professionals as they journey empathically alongside their clients. Figley (1995) was among the first to highlight what he described as the cost to caring-how mental health professionals (especially those who work extensively with survivors of trauma) who empathically listen to their clients' stories of fear, pain, and suffering often find themselves feeling similar fear, pain, and suffering.
In the past two decades, a growing body of literature has formally investigated the effects of trauma work on those who are working with traumatized individuals. Trauma workers represent a population of special interest due to the frequency of exposure to traumatic material inherent in their work. This is the case in part because empirically supported treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT; Resick & Schnieke, 1992) and Prolonged Exposure (PE; Foa, Rothbaum, Riggs, & Murdock, 1991) typically involve the telling and retelling of traumatic experiences in significant detail. This is done in the hope of breaking through clients' avoidance of traumatic memories and reminders (Elwood, Mott, Lohr, & Galovski, 2011), which is understood to be a key component to recovery from PTSD. As such, clinician exposure to distressing material accumulates significantly as treatment is provided to multiple clients concurrently over time. Research interest in this area has been further galvanized in recent history by a revision of the diagnostic criteria for PTSD in 1994 to account for the possibility that the witnessing or hearing of threatened death or serious injury occurring to another individual may in itself constitute a traumatic event (APA, 1994).
Secondary Traumatic Stress
Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a term used to describe reactions and symptoms observed among trauma workers that run parallel to those observed in people directly exposed to trauma (Bride, Robinson, Yegidis, & Figley, 2004). Understandably, a therapist might run the risk of absorbing the sight, sound, touch, and feel of the...