Vicarious Trauma and

Resiliency

Military and First Responders Mental Health Summit and Resource Fair—July 23, 2019

Melissa A. Jones, Ph.D., HSPP

Work Family

About me I’m a clinical psychologist

Licensed for 14 years

Working with trauma since my undergraduate career began in the late 1990s

Currently I do mostly assessments

Veterans’ and Indiana disability evaluations

Pre-employment screenings for local law enforcement

Other various assessments….ADHD, learning disorders, depression, anxiety, etc…

And….

….I’m a Firefighter’s wifeHe’s been on the Evansville Fire Department for 21 years and is First Shift Captain at station 16

So….

I have years of training and

research about trauma

and with trauma victims

I have years of clinical

experience with trauma

victims

I have the practical

experience of dealing with

my own clients’ trauma

I experience my husband dealing with

trauma as well since he is a

first responder

You could say

my entire

adult life has

focused on

trauma…

And, realistically, trauma pays that bills at

our house with my husband being a

firefighter and me working in the mental

health field.

Not only do we deal

with our clients’ traumaWe can experience our vicarious trauma

through our jobs as professionals

People in Helping Professions Experience Trauma in Various Ways

Trauma can

be caused

by….

Witnessing trauma while working/helping others

Seeing and being aware how frequent trauma is and how many people it affects

Frequently hearing about trauma others have experienced

Some trauma

will be more

difficult to

handle than

others

Maybe something hits close to home

Maybe an experience was especially gruesome

Maybe the situation dealt with a child in a particularly bad situation

Maybe the client has a very long history of trauma

Most of the trauma experienced rolls off, but there is always that one call….

I know there is one specific call that affected my husband greatly, even though it was not extra-ordinary

There is one case I can remember from when I interned at Albion in the 1990s that I still think of at times

Then there are the other cases we experience when we see the same client for several years and live their trauma with them as they experience it

As a first responder (police, fire, military), what do you do if you’re concerned about another first responder?

Ask for help Get someone higher in the chain of command involved if needed

Suggest Suggest professional help if needed

Listen Be willing to listen

Talk Talk with that person personally

Mental

Health

Stigma with

First

Responders

THERE CONTINUES TO BE A STIGMA

ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT,

ESPECIALLY IN THESE “TOUGH” OR

“MANLY” PROFESSIONS…POLICE,

FIRE, MILITARY

I’VE HEARD TEASING FOR YEARS

ABOUT “HEY…YOU NEED TO GO SEE

JONES’ WIFE”

THEY MAY STILL NEED TO BE

REASSURED THAT TREATMENT OR

THERAPY IS NOT A SIGN OF

WEAKNESS, BUT IT’S A SIGN OF HOPE

AND SELF-CARE

At times, the trauma we hear about and help clients work through can become traumatic for us as clinicians.

What helps people who are regularly exposed to trauma

deal with it better than others??

Some key factors are:

• Supportive Spouse

• Family you can rely on

• Friends that understand you and/or your experiences

Social support (external factor)

• Being able to adaptive and move on

Resiliency (internal factor)

Social Support can be….

Being with people that care about you

Emotional SupportTalking with others about life stressors

Spending time with others just doing shared activities

Being around people that lift you

up or make you feel good about yourself

One’s spouse is often the most

important person in the social support

network

Resiliencyan ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or changeMerriam-Webster dictionary online

Why do we need resiliency?

Resiliency helps us

Cope with stressors

Handle change appropriately

Overcome challenging situations

Be less likely to focus on feeling victimized (idea of victim vs survivor)

Be realistic with expectations for self and others

Manage emotions so as not to become overwhelmed

It’s more than just being optimistic

How do we

develop

resiliency?

• Some people are more flexible, less easily stressed, etc.… just by nature

Personality

• How we look at situations

Perceptions

• Making decisions that positively effect us

Choices

• Do what worked and make different choices next time if something did not work well

Learn from your past

• Learn and practice skills such as problem-solving and communication

Skills

From

PreventDisease.com

October 11, 2013

The

Personality

Trait of

Resiliency

How do we

teach resiliency

to others and

improve our

own resiliency?

Communication skills

Problem-solving skills

Decision-making skills

Self-care

Developing/practicing a positive outlook on life

Looking at the big picture of a situation…not just our current stressor

Meditation, journaling, or other positive coping skills for stress

Resiliency is improved with….

From Forbes

online:

Resilience

August 31, 2105

One of the best

things we, as

clinicians, can

do for

ourselves

SELF-CARE

Self-Care improves resiliency and helps decrease the chances of burn-out

Burn-out is a frequent problem for clinicians, especially when the

clients and caseload are demanding, and we do not take care of

ourselves

Self-careyou know…that thing we

teach our clients and suggest our coworkers do

Eat healthy

Exercise

Get enough sleep

PLUS….

Do something you enjoy

Spend time with others

Read a book for fun

See a movie or binge Netflix

Take time away from the office

Go on vacation…yes…vacation

Questions? Comments?

If you would like a copy of this

presentation you can find it at:

www.luzioassociates.com

Under the Resource tab

www.familycenteredlife.com

Under the Digital Media tab