How Counsellors Cope with Traumatized Clients: Personal, Professional and Organizational Strategies
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How Counsellors Cope with Traumatized Clients: Personal, Professional and Organizational Strategies Sally V. Hunter1,3 and Margot J. Schofield1,2 Published Online 22 July 2006
This qualitative study examined the experiences of counsellors and their perceptions of resources that helped them cope with traumatized clients and difficult client sessions. The research was conducted using in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of eight counsellors working in five counselling agencies. The study identified how counsellors develop their own personal and professional strategies for coping with challenge, and the supportive structures and coping strategies provided by agencies. From these counsellors’ stories of learning to cope with traumatized clients and traumatic material, we highlight some recommendations that may facilitate the development of effective coping strategies for the prevention or amelioration of vicarious traumatization. KEY WORDS: trauma; vicarious traumatization; qualitiative research; counselling strategies.
The client-counsellor relationship or therapeutic alliance lies at the heart of therapy (Feltham, 1999). Much research has focused on the characteristics of counsellors and clients that lead to development of a good therapeutic alliance (cf., Blatt, Sanislow, Pikonis, & Zuroff, 1996; Bohart & Tallman, 1996), with strength of the alliance being consistently predictive of good therapy outcomes (Hubble, Duncan, & Miller, 1999). The vast body of process and outcome research has focused appropriately on clients and client outcomes. Relatively few studies have examined the impact of therapy or the therapeutic alliance on the counsellor. What research there is on the more complex inner experiences of counsellors has largely focused on countertransference dynamics (Pearlman & Mac Ian, 1995). Yet, the growing field of trauma counselling has highlighted the need for greater 1 School
of Health, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA), Melbourne, Australia. 3 Correspondence should be directed to Sally V. Hunter, School of Health, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia; e-mail: [email protected]. 2 Psychotherapy
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understanding of how engagement in the therapeutic relationship can and does impact on the counsellor, and how counsellors seek to cope with these effects (Figley, 1995; Stamm, 1995). This is especially important for counsellors who work with a high proportion of traumatized clients, since they may be at risk of higher rates of stress, burnout, or vicarious traumatization (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995; Schauben & Frazier, 1995). The construct of “vicarious traumatization” was first used in 1990 to describe the process of vicarious or secondary traumatization experienced by counsellors working with clients who had suffered from traumatic experiences (McCann & Pearlman, 1990). Vicarious traumatiz
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