Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress or simply burnout? Effect of trauma therapy on mental health professionals
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Author(s)
Devilly, Grant J
Wright, Renee
Varker, Tracey
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2009
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to perform an assessment for secondary traumatic stress (STS), vicarious trauma (VT) and workplace burnout for Australian mental health professionals involved in clinical practice. Methods: Recruited directly by mail, randomly selected participants were invited to submit a questionnaire by post or online. Of the 480 participants contacted, 152 mental health professionals completed the questionnaire, which contained measures of STS, VT and burnout. Results: Exposure to patients' traumatic material did not affect STS, VT or burnout, contradicting the theory of the originators ...
View more >Objectives: The aim of the present study was to perform an assessment for secondary traumatic stress (STS), vicarious trauma (VT) and workplace burnout for Australian mental health professionals involved in clinical practice. Methods: Recruited directly by mail, randomly selected participants were invited to submit a questionnaire by post or online. Of the 480 participants contacted, 152 mental health professionals completed the questionnaire, which contained measures of STS, VT and burnout. Results: Exposure to patients' traumatic material did not affect STS, VT or burnout, contradicting the theory of the originators of STS and VT. Rather, it was found that work-related stressors best predicted therapist distress. Conclusions: These findings have significant implications for the direction of research and theory development in traumatic stress studies, calling into question the existence of secondary trauma-related phenomena and enterprises aimed at treating the consultants.
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View more >Objectives: The aim of the present study was to perform an assessment for secondary traumatic stress (STS), vicarious trauma (VT) and workplace burnout for Australian mental health professionals involved in clinical practice. Methods: Recruited directly by mail, randomly selected participants were invited to submit a questionnaire by post or online. Of the 480 participants contacted, 152 mental health professionals completed the questionnaire, which contained measures of STS, VT and burnout. Results: Exposure to patients' traumatic material did not affect STS, VT or burnout, contradicting the theory of the originators of STS and VT. Rather, it was found that work-related stressors best predicted therapist distress. Conclusions: These findings have significant implications for the direction of research and theory development in traumatic stress studies, calling into question the existence of secondary trauma-related phenomena and enterprises aimed at treating the consultants.
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Journal Title
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
Volume
43
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© 2009 Informa Healthcare. This is an electronic version of an article published in Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 43, No. 4 , Pages 373-385. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry is available online at: http://informahealthcare.com with the open URL of your article.
Subject
Biomedical and clinical sciences
Clinical sciences not elsewhere classified
Psychology