Beyond Self-Care: Addressing Secondary Traumatic Stress as a Professional Skill-Set for Trauma-Informed Professionals and Organizations

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is increasingly recognized as an occupational hazard for those whose work involves interaction with traumatized individuals or exposure to trauma-related information. Although most suggested strategies for addressing STS focus on individual self-care, effective recognition, prevention, and response to workplace-related STS is better considered a professional skill and organizational responsibility in trauma-informed care. To that end, the present workshop builds on previous presentations on the Resilience for Trauma-Informed Professionals (R-TIP; Kerig, 2019) curriculum, focusing on individual and organizational strategies designed to foster a mutually-supportive and STS-aware social ecology in the workplace.

• Identify strategies co-workers can use to foster a mutually-supportive and STS-aware social ecology.
• Identify strategies organizations can employ to recognize, prevent, and respond to STS reactions among staff members.

Patricia K. Kerig, PhD