Secondary Trauma in Educators
Secondary Trauma in Educators
Compassion fatigue, burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress (STS)--there are several names for what educators are facing when they have witnessed too much trauma for too long with too little support. While there is a distinction among these phrases, educators, particularly those working closely with refugee and immigrant students, know this experience all too well:
"Secondary traumatic stress results from vicariously experiencing traumatic events, typically through communications with students, and is characterized by PTSD-like symptoms such as hypervigilance, nightmares, and avoidance of the people or places associated with the trauma" (Casimir & Baker, 2023, p.26).
Feeling as though you are an emotional "first responder" in the classroom (Kostouros, Scarff, Millar & Crossman, 2022, p.188) without adequate support is unsustainable.
The Educator's State
It is clear that in order to respond to students who have experienced trauma we must create safe, predictable, and supportive environments, but what about the state of educators? As previously shared in What is trauma?, over 64% of adults in the United States have experienced adverse or traumatic childhood experiences. This does not include several underrepresented groups who were excluded from the study, which strongly suggests the number of adults who have experienced ACEs is significantly higher.
As Casimir & Baker, 2023, reflect:
"...how can we be trauma responsive in our classrooms and schools when we are often experiencing personal trauma, vicarious trauma, and burnout?...It's important that we engage in offstage healing work similarly to how we prepare our academic lessons offstage. As we attempt to build healthy relationships with our students onstage, our own healing and well-being needs to be prioritized, practiced, and valued at the same time" (p.65).
Prevention & Care
There are many practical recommendations for educators who are dealing with secondary trauma:
- Practicing boundaries
- Deep breathing
- Changing focus
- Looking at a comfortable picture
- Coloring
- Taking short 3-5 minute breaks
- Reflection
- Referring students to appropriate resources
- Peer support
Yet, research has shown that individual educators cannot do the work of creating a trauma-responsive school by themselves nor should they shoulder the emotional burden of supporting traumatized students alone. Schools and organizations at large must prioritize both trauma-informed and responsive teaching to benefit the students and provide resources to support the educators doing the work. Professional development and support, such as this module, is one step in the right direction. Establishing support groups and communities of practice along with access to counseling for educators would also provide the much needed support and community.
As mentioned by Walker, 2019, "...no teacher will do their best work if they are suffering from STS (secondary traumatic stress). The bottom line is strategies to support educators are always going to help students". This support ensures that educators can bring the inner calm and settled nervous system (Daniels, 2022) that is needed to create a supportive and responsive environment for their students.
|
Additional Resources Please consider these additional resources: 1) Complete this inventory to assess your own level of compassion fatigue, burnout, or even secondary traumatic stress/vicarious trauma: Professional Quality of Life Scale Links to an external site.. Use this as a tool for your own awareness if you wish. Chances are, if you are experiencing any compassion fatigue, burnout, or secondary trauma/vicarious trauma, you already know it.
2) Increase your own knowledge of emotional health by exploring these books: Permission to Feel by Marc Brackett Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown |