Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue & Burnout:
Strategies for Resilience & Recovery

Burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue are concepts that most, if not all, practitioners in trauma-exposed professions are likely familiar with. Unfortunately, it is not always clear how they differ from each other, how they show up personally, and what can be done about addressing them.

Since the early 1990s, when researchers began studying the impact of work-related secondary trauma exposure on professionals, there has been growing confusion about terminology and best practice recommendations as well as significant gaps in the research. Some fields, like child abuse and child welfare, have been the focus of far more studies than other professions like probation, parole, and allied health – although this is now changing.

Provider impairment was already of significant concern prior to the pandemic, but the global crisis of the past few years greatly amplified stressors for many of us, both on the home front and at work. Professionals are being asked to do more with less, while navigating systems that are more complex than ever before. However, the pandemic also provided some exciting new findings on the research front, providing insights into questions such as: how can we maintain psychological well-being and our ability to retain high levels of professional and personal functioning? Why are some people able to stay in these challenging fields for decades, and others choose to leave after a few years?

Based on these research findings, along with decades of information from providers, this workshop will provide an evidence-informed roadmap so that we can continue to work well and stay well.

You will learn:

• What’s new in the research? A review of the most up to date findings of effective intervention methods
• Words matter – why we need to stop using the term “compassion fatigue”
• What is the difference between burnout and vicarious trauma?
• Warning signs: understanding your personal risk and resiliency profile
• Tools for grounding and resetting before, during, and after work, using positive neuroplasticity
• Beyond kale and pedicures: why self-care isn’t enough
• Career-sustaining behaviours: What we can learn from the “dirty work” study and from career clinicians
• Beyond stress balls: what can organizations and systems do to support their workers