Examining Secondary Trauma as a Result of Clients’ Reports of Discrimination

Abstract

In the current study, we examined the extent to which 86 American clinicians heard reports of discrimination from their clients of color. Findings indicated that 96.5% of clinicians heard at least one report of discrimination from clients of color at least occasionally in counseling. The acts of discrimination most frequently reported by clients of color were: a) being made to feel like outsiders, b) treated unfairly by coworkers and classmates, and c) treated unfairly by teachers and principals. Additionally, we investigated the predictive nature of reports of discrimination from clients of color on clinicians' compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The three predictor variables (clinicians' age, years counseling, and clients of color's reports of discrimination) did not significantly predict compassion satisfaction or burnout, yet significantly predicted secondary traumatic stress. These results revealed that as reports of discrimination from clients of color increased, so too did clinicians' secondary traumatic stress.

Investigating Race-related Stress, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress for Black Mental Health Therapists

“…Exhaustion and depression are two symptoms that might indicate burnout in mental health professionals (Merriman, 2015;Wood et al, 2017). Similar to other studies, burnout and STS displayed significant positive correlation (Giordano et al, 2020). Therefore, STS may contribute to burnout for Black mental health therapists, and burnout may exacerbate STS (Cieslak et al, 2014).…”

“…Kirkinis et al (2018) reported that higher levels of race-related stress or discrimination were also associated with higher levels of trauma symptoms for African Americans. Giordano et al (2020) found, for a sample that consisted primarily of White mental health therapists, that client reports of discrimination were significantly correlated with STS for the therapists in their study. Black mental health therapists may be at risk for STS because of their work with Black clients who experience racism.…”

“…The traits that make mental health therapists effective with clients (i.e., empathy, care, and compassion) also place therapists at risk for negative psychological, emotional, or financial outcomes (Giordano et al, 2020;Thompson et al, 2014). That is, therapists' ability to bear witness to clients' distress or trauma can lead to adverse consequences for the therapists' psychological and physical health, their efficacy with their clients, and their workplace efficacy or retention (Browning et al, 2019;Simionato, 2019).…”

“…Two terms that describe the potential negative outcomes for mental health therapists are burnout and secondary trauma. Burnout describes an impairment caused by the persistent emotional stress that therapists experience when working with clients who are distressed or troubled (Giordano et al, 2020;Maslach, 2003). Secondary trauma or STS describes the emotional and psychological impact of empathetically listening to clients' experiences of trauma (Figley, 2002).…”

Job stress and mental health among social workers: evidence from a field experiment at a public employment support institution in Japan

“…However, existing studies present competing evidence on how working condition affects human service professionals' mental health. Several early studies suggest that working in human services deteriorates workers' mental health (Adams et al, 2008;Conrad & Kellar-Guenther, 2006;Craig & Sprang, 2010;Giordano et al, 2021). This is because the hours devoted to listening to clients' distress can be stressful for workers (Fligey, 1995).…”