Contributing factors to secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in therapists
Date
2023
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Traumatic Stress
Abstract
Alongside the recognized potential negative repercussions of working as a psychological therapist, there is growing interest in the potential positive impacts
of engaging in such work. The current study used a cross-sectional online survey design to explore the impact of a range of demographic, work-related, and
compassion-related factors on levels of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and
vicarious posttraumatic growth (VPTG) in an international sample of 359 psychological therapists. Hierarchical multiple regressions demonstrated that burnout,
lower levels of self-compassion, having a personal trauma history, reporting a
higher percentage of working time with a trauma focus, and being female were
the statistically significant contributors to STS scores, explaining 40.8% of the
variance, F(9, 304) = 23.2, p <.001. For VPTG, higher compassion satisfaction,
higher self-compassion, higher STS, a higher percentage of working time with a
trauma focus, fewer years qualified, being male, and having a personal trauma
history were all statistically significant contributors, explaining 27.3% of the variance, F (10, 304) = 11.37, p <.001. The findings illustrate the potential risk and
protective factors for developing STS and clarify factors that may increase the
likelihood of experiencing VPTG. Implications for psychological therapists and
the organizations and institutions for which they work are considered along with
potential directions for future research in the discussion.
Description
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Keywords
International Resources, Ireland, secondary traumatic stress, therapists, personal trauma history, burnout, self-compassion
Citation
Cleary, E., Curran, D., Dyer, K., Simms, J., & Hanna, D. (2023). Contributing factors to secondary traumatic stress and vicarious posttraumatic growth in therapists. Journal of Traumatic Stress.