Secondary Traumatic Stress

Secondary Traumatic Stress is the profound shift in world view that occurs in helping professionals who work in high-stress and trauma-exposed fields. Over time, repeated exposure to difficult content can have a negative impact on our functioning and overall mental health.

Know Your Warning Signs

Behavioral

Increased use of alcohol and drugs
Anger and irritability at home and/or at work
Avoidance of clients/patients
Watching excessive amounts of tv at night
Consuming high trauma media as entertainment
Not returning phone calls at work and/or at home
Avoiding colleagues and staff gatherings
Avoiding social events
Impaired ability to make decisions
Feeling helpless when hearing a difficult client story
Impostor syndrome – feeling unskilled in your job
Problems in personal relationships
Difficulty with sex and intimacy due to trauma exposure at work
Thinking about quitting your job (not always a bad idea by the way!)
Compromised care for clients/patients
Engaging in frequent negative gossip/venting at work
Impaired appetite or binge eating

Physical

Exhaustion
Insomnia
Headaches
Increased susceptibility to illness
Sore back and neck
Irritable bowel, GI distress
Rashes, breakouts
Grinding your teeth at night
Heart palpitations
Hypochondria

Emotional/Psychological

Emotional exhaustion
Negative self-image
Depression
Increased anxiety
Difficulty sleeping
Impaired appetite or binge eating
Feelings of hopelessness
Guilt
Reduced ability to feel sympathy and empathy
Cynicism at work
Anger at work
Resentment of demands being put on you at work and/or at home
Dread of working with certain clients/patients/certain case files
Diminished sense of enjoyment/career (i.e., low compassion satisfaction)
Depersonalization – spacing out during work or the drive home
Disruption of world view/heightened anxiety or irrational fears
Intrusive imagery
Hypersensitivity to emotionally charged stimuli
Insensitivity to emotional material/numbing
Difficulty separating personal and professional lives
Failure to nurture and develop non-work related aspects of life
Suicidal thoughts

Identify your top three most frequent warning signs

Are they all in one category, or a mixture from each category? Are you currently functioning in the green (healthy), yellow (warning sign) or redzone? Ask family or colleagues to share with you what they think your warning signs are, both at work and at home.

Use a Screener to Assess Yourself

Take this screener to see if secondary traumatic stress is an issue for you.

Moral Distress

Take this screener to see if moral distress is an issue for you.

Stress

Take this screener to see if stress is an issue for you.

Burnout

Take this screener to see if burnout is an issue for you.

Compassion Satisfaction

Take this screener to see if compassion satisfaction is an issue for you.

Know Your Warning Signs

Use a Screener to Assess Yourself