Having Knowledge About Vicarious Trauma Research Paper

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Vicarious Trauma also known as compassion fatigue is what many people consider as the cost of caring. Researchers argue that counselors who deal with trauma survivors get Vicarious Trauma in the course of their work. When patients are explaining their experiences, the counselor becomes a witness, to the case as he/she has to listen to the full story to offer help. It has also been described as the emotional residue left in counselors after hearing trauma stories and becoming witnesses to the pain and the suffering the patient went through. This form of disorder affects many caregivers and it is important to ensure that helping professionals are equipped with this knowledge. Equipping professionals with this type of knowledge will play a significant role in helping reduce the effects of the disorder. This information is also important in the sense that it will enhance professionalism among all the counselors. Now counselors can know what is affecting them and the ways to avoid it. The characteristics of Vicarious Trauma include losing sleep over patients, blaming others, dreaming about the ordeals of the patients and worrying that they are not doing enough for the patients depending on the counselor.
People attract Vicarious Trauma in many different ways, for instance, for counselors who easily contract the disease. They deal with many patients including trauma survivors who have to narrate their ordeals to the counselor for efficient recovery. The counselors are forced to become witnesses because they will have to hear the whole story. If this continues for a longer period without being noticed the counselor might become too attached to the patient hence causing complications in the recovery process. According to a study conducted by the United Nations, most counselors who attended to post-war patients complained of Vicarious Trauma. A cumulative process occurs over time. Humanitarian workers are the most affected with this disorder, as they have to listen to people in the trouble and their hour of need. This really affects the worker as he/she feels that they can do nothing to save the victims, all they can do is listen and watch. One good method of preventing Vicarious Trauma is by creating awareness among various practitioners about its existence and dangers associated with it. Informing people about its presence will make them more vigilant and watchful for people who possess its characteristics. Another way for successfully preventing the disorder is by the practitioners agreeing to challenge themselves daily and treat each case differently. As a helping professional, one should not allow the experiences of the victims’ compromise the treatment and when professionals attract Vicarious Trauma, they jeopardize the treatment of the patient.
Another way of ensuring the prevention of Vicarious Trauma is through engaging the humanitarians with others for them to share their experiences and discuss the cases that haunt them the most. This will play an active role in that the practitioners think that they are not alone and that their colleagues have gone through the same experience. S...