Have you ever walked away from a client session feeling completely drained—but unsure why? Listening to clients recount the trauma they’ve endured or witnessing first-hand the conditions in which they continue to live puts us at risk of experiencing secondary trauma, a common occupational hazard for social workers that can impact our mental health and job performance. Understanding what secondary trauma is and learning practical self-care strategies to mitigate its impact, allows us to continue caring for others while also supporting ourselves.
What is Secondary Trauma?
Secondary trauma, also known as vicarious trauma, occurs when we are impacted by indirect exposure to someone else’s trauma. In holding space for our clients as they share their trauma narratives with us, we are indirectly exposed to their experience of trauma, making us vulnerable to overidentify with their pain, sadness and fear and taking on their experiences as our own.
Secondary trauma can cause social workers to experience a variety of symptoms and it’s important to be mindful that the indirect impact of trauma will present differently for everyone. Common signs and symptoms of secondary trauma include:
- Irritability, increased anxiety, sadness, feeling drained or numb
- Persistent negative, unrealistic or unhelpful thoughts
- Feeling ineffective in your role
- Experiencing hopelessness
- Sleep disturbances
- Increased nightmares
- Difficulty focusing/concentrating
- Hyperfocusing on a specific client’s story
Sometimes the terms burnout and compassion fatigue are used interchangeably with secondary trauma, and while there are similarities, there are important differences as well. People who experience burnout are impacted by their workplace environment and culture and while stressed, aren’t experiencing symptoms of secondary trauma. Compassion fatigue is when we experience feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and diminished empathy for others because we’ve given so much of ourselves to our clients, but it’s important to note that we can experience compassion fatigue without having been indirectly exposed to trauma. It’s common, however, for social workers to experience both compassion fatigue and secondary trauma at the same time which can lead to significant cognitive, physical and emotional consequences.
The Long-Term Effects of Secondary Trauma
If left untreated, secondary trauma can have long-term effects on social workers, including:
- Providers may experience PTSD related symptoms, such as hypervigilance, avoidance and hyper-arousal.
- Chronic, prolonged exposure to secondary trauma can impair a social worker’s ability to engage in critical and flexible thinking, impacting their judgement.
- Emotional exhaustion often leads to physical concerns such as fatigue, headaches, heart palpitations, and gastrointestinal issues.
The long-term effects of secondary trauma can have a significant impact on job performance and client care, as well as on a worker’s personal life, making it necessary to address secondary trauma from both an individual and organizational perspective.
Strategies for Social Workers to Care for Themselves
There are several effective strategies that can be used as part of a healthy self-care routine in order to mitigate or prevent the impact of secondary trauma.
- Clinical supervision utilizing reflective techniques, psychoeducation and encouragement of appropriate boundaries can help social workers process their internal experience.
- Mindfulness techniques such as grounding, remaining in the present moment, and reminding yourself that you are a mirror, not a sponge can help us protect ourselves from taking on trauma and emotion that isn’t ours.
- Having an exercise routine is a great way to take care of ourselves. Including the recommended 150 minutes of daily physical activity in your daily routine can help your body manage stress and keep you regulated in order to be effective at work and personal life.
Agencies and larger organizations can encourage its social workers to engage in regular self-care activities by providing regular check-ins and learning opportunities focused on managing the impact of secondary trauma. Framing secondary trauma as “a natural consequence of caring” rather than an individual weakness or inability to maintain boundaries normalizes this as a common occupational hazard, making it more likely providers will seek help if needed. Having an employee assistance program or other support staff readily available for social workers experiencing secondary trauma can decrease staff turnover and the likelihood of client care becoming compromised.
Consistently prioritizing our own needs and well-being is the most effective strategy for social workers at risk of experiencing secondary trauma. Meeting our needs first can feel uncomfortable as we’re used to prioritizing the needs of our clients but is the only way to consistently provide effective care to others. Tools like Casebook can support this balance by reducing documentation fatigue and helping social workers manage caseloads more efficiently. When administrative work is streamlined, there’s more space to reflect, reset, and re-engage with purpose.
