Concetta Hollinger, LCSW, NCA

Autumn Roppolo, CISM

Sarasota County Sheriff ’s Office

Victim Assistance Unit

Managing

Vicarious

Trauma &

Compassion

Fatigue

• Understand core concepts of vicarious

trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout

and their respective “symptoms”

• Learn about self-assessment tools

• Identify strategies for management and

prevention

Spiritual

Psychological

And inevitable

stress results in

fatigue and

trauma. Emotional

Physical

Compassion

Fatigue

Burnout Vicarious

Traumatization

Within compassion fatigue, you may also hear of two other terms: burnout

and vicarious traumatization. These three terms are interconnected and

there is some crossover in the symptoms you might experience. However,

you do not have to be compassion fatigued to be burnt out or vicariously

traumatized to be compassion fatigued and by contrast you could be all

three of these classifications at the same time.

Compassion satisfaction

is about the pleasure you

derive from being able to

do your work.

• Vicarious Trauma is what happens to your neurological (or cognitive), physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual health when you listen to traumatic stories day after day or respond to traumatic situations while having to control your reaction.

www.vicarioustrauma.com

Physical Work

Impact Emotional and

Reaction-

Based Relational

Habits of Daily Living

• Compassion fatigue

• Headaches

• Sleeplessness

• Increased blood pressure

• Digestion problems

• Depression

• Flashbacks of cases

• Hyper vigilance

• Stress dreams or nightmares

• Poor decision making

• Oversensitive feelings

• Desensitization/numbness

• Memory Loss

• Difficulty concentrating

• Irritability

• Anger

• Fear

• Guilt

• Low motivation

• Self-medication

Denver Center for Victims of Crime

• Gradual lessening of compassion over time • Fatigue, emotional distress, apathy, lack of sympathy,

negative attitude

• Compassion fatigue is the result of secondary traumatic stress to those in caregiving roles • it results when people in caregiving roles (professionally or

personally) endure too much “other-directed” caregiving and not enough self-directed caregiving

• When caring too much hurts

• Normal displays of chronic stress

• “Burnout”

• “Secondary Traumatic Stress”

Physical

Behavioral

Psychological

Spiritual

Organizational

• Psychological exhaustion

• Diminished efficiency

• Tiredness, loss of interest, or frustration

that interferes with job performance

• Feeling tired and drained most of the

time

• Lowered immunity, prone to illness or

feeling sick often

• Frequent headaches, back pain, muscle

aches

• Changes in appetite or sleeping habits

• Using food, drugs, or alcohol to cope

• Taking out your frustrations on others

• Skipping work, coming in late, leaving

early

• Sense of failure and self-doubt

• Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated

• Detachment, isolation, feeling alone

• Loss of motivation

• Increasingly cynical and negative outlook

• Withdrawing from responsibilities

• Procrastination

• Decreasing satisfaction and sense of accomplishment

It is also very

normal, can be

treated, and can

be prevented.

Self assessment might be

something as simple as checking

in with yourself and

acknowledging where you are

with compassion fatigue, burn

out, vicarious trauma, or your

professional world in general.

Listening…not just hearing, but

LISTENING to what your friends

and family are telling you about

how work is impacting you or

any reactions you may be

subconsciously showing.

You might also choose to utilize

a more formal assessment

measure such as an assessment

tool. (Please see other

attachments for this training.)

How honest are you being?

• Where do the stories go?

• Were you trained for this?

• What are your particular vulnerabilities?

• How do you protect yourself from this challenging work?

Kent Kauffman, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, 2013

These are four

questions to

examine within

yourself.

Finding BALANCE is necessary in order to

SURVIVE this work and to maintain the ability to

THRIVE in it!

Awareness

Prevention

Intervention

Rest

Recreation

Relaxation

Authentic and Sustainable Self Care Begins With You:

• Be kind to yourself.

• Enhance your awareness with education.

• Accept where you are on your path at all times.

• Understand that those close to you may not be there when you need them most.

• Exchange information and feelings with people who can validate you.

• Listen to others who are suffering.

• Clarify your personal boundaries. What works for you; what doesn't.

• Express your needs verbally.

• Take positive action to change your environment.

www.compassionfatigue.org

• Compassion satisfaction is about the

pleasure you derive from being able to

do your work. • You may feel like it is a pleasure to help others through what

you do at work.

• You may feel positively about your colleagues or your ability

to contribute to the work setting

• You may feel positively about the greater good of society

through your work with people who need care.

www.compassionfatigue.org

• Books and publications by Dr. Charles Figley

• Office of Justice Programs – National Criminal

Justice Reference Service

Online Resources:

• www.compassionfatigue.org

• www.proqol.org

• www.helpguide.org (Search for “burnout”)

• www.vicarioustrauma.org

Concetta Hollinger, LCSW, NCA

Office: (941) 861-4942

Cell: (941) 587-0460

Cell: (941) 504-8599

Email: chollinger@scgov.net

Autumn Roppolo, CISM

Office: (941) 861-4961

Cell: (941) 544-7235

Email: aroppolo@scgov.net