Second-Hand Shock: Surviving & Overcoming Vicarious Trauma

Helping professionals can experience burnout and compassion fatigue as a result of their work, but what about those suffering debilitating problems like depression, anxiety, addiction, obesity, or immune disorders? The cause could be vicarious trauma—a phenomenon that goes far beyond compassion fatigue or burnout.

Every time you interact with those you help, you are putting yourself at risk for vicarious trauma. Absorbing others’ trauma while controlling your own empathic response alters yo...