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Prevention Of Vicarious Trauma: Are Coping Strategies Enough?, Angie Gerding

Master of Social Work Clinical Research Papers

Social workers are increasingly being called on to assist a greater proportion of clients who have experienced trauma. As a result clinicians are exposed to greater chances of developing vicarious trauma. The clinician may experience higher levels of stress, unwanted/distressing images of trauma material, sleep disturbance, and anxiety (Cunningham, 2004). Researchers have found that the signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma can decrease if the clinician uses commonly recommended coping strategies to help control the unwanted disturbances of working with traumatized clients (Bober, Regehr, 2005). These coping strategies include leisure, self-care, supervision, and spirituality activities. A quantitative survey was sent …