The Development of the Trauma Therapist: A Qualitative Study of the Child Therapist's Perspectives and Experiences

Lonergan, Beth A.; O’Halloran, Mary Sean; Crane, Susan C. M.

doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhh027

Cited by 20 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Educating themselves about the field in general and, more specifically, about secondary traumatic stress, allows the mental health worker to understand that this is a common occurrence in the field, and reduces the stress of thinking they are not doing their job correctly if they are experiencing vicarious trauma (Lonergan et al, 2004).…”

Section: Personal Factors That Mitigate or Decrease Vicarious Traumamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therapists reported that having supervision and dedicated time to discuss their experiences assisted them (Lonergan et al, 2004;Pistorius, 2006;VanDeusen & Way, 2006).…”

Section: Organisational Factors That Mitigate or Decrease Vicarious Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To be published in the Journal of Forensic Practice (in press) experience more stress (Lonergan et al, 2004;Pistorius, 2006;VanDeusen & Way, 2006). Those experiencing vicarious trauma hinder their colleagues by not being available for consultation or supervision, or by lowering moral by displaying cynicism (Weaks, 1999).…”

Section: Theme 1: Lack Of Organisational Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Psychological trauma in professionals working with traumatised children

Ireland¹,

Huxley²

2018

JFP

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Section: Personal Factors That Mitigate or Decrease Vicarious Traumamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therapists reported that having supervision and dedicated time to discuss their experiences assisted them (Lonergan et al, 2004;Pistorius, 2006;VanDeusen & Way, 2006).…”

Section: Organisational Factors That Mitigate or Decrease Vicarious Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theme 1: Lack Of Organisational Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychological trauma in professionals working with traumatised children

Ireland¹,

Huxley²

2018

JFP

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“…Working with traumatised children may disrupt a psychotherapist's everyday life (Canfield, 2003) and includes frustration and difficulty in working with multiple, often fragmented systems in the child's life, for example, the challenges in working with legal, child protection, and foster care systems associated with sexually abused children (Pistorius, 2006) and/or specifically with children in the foster care system (Lonergan, O’Halloran, & Crane, 2004). The challenges for the psychotherapist and source of emotional difficulty include the family, dealing with systems in community health agencies (Edgeson, 2006), and being exposed to traumatic material.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Ecological Perspective: Therapist Practices with Children who Experienced Abuse and Trauma

Edwards

Karnilowicz

2013

Australian Psychologist

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This qualitative study explores experiences of psychotherapists working in public settings with children who experienced abuse and trauma. The study sought to investigate and understand factors which intruded upon and or supported the capacity for psychotherapists in a community clinic to cognitively process and understand supportive and constraining aspects of the professional context. An important focus was the organisational context of psychotherapists. Nine psychotherapists were interviewed to gain an understanding of their experiences with and perceptions of the needs of children including factors considered important in therapy, the influences of their organisational context, and challenges and rewards of the work. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of interview data revealed three broad themes identified as relational, organisational, and systemic. An ecological metaphor was used to conceptualise these themes as they related to psychotherapists and the children with whom they worked. The findings demonstrated the importance of the psychotherapist's organisational context on how they experienced their work. This study also considered the need to conceptualise therapy with children who have experienced trauma within the interaction of the child and therapist's relational, organisational, and systems context.

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“…Although there is a growing body of research on retention, to date most research on the impacts of child protection work on staff have focused on conditions of adversity, been quantitative in nature, deficit-based, and developed from the perspective of psychopathology, (Adams, Boscarino, & Figley, 2006;Dunkley & Whelan, 2006;Linley & Joseph, 2005). Therefore an increased understanding of the experiences CPW not subject to symptoms of psychopathology and who remain committed to child protection work is warranted (Lonergan, O'Halloran, & Crane, 2004;Westbrook et al, 2006).…”

Section: Adversity Impacting Child Protection Workersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Witnessing resilience: resilience of child protection workers in Queensland

Russ¹

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Statutory child protection has a reputation for being a crisis-driven, reactive and complex system that responds to the wicked problem of child abuse and neglect. In this context there is evidence of long term workforce issues with recruitment difficulties and high turnover rates. The impact of this work not only at an organisational level but also at an individual level is acknowledged in the literature, with workers being exposed to a range of emotional and psychological challenges. Child protection workers (CPW) commonly face significant adversity such as threats, assaults and high levels of exposure to traumatic material exposing them to both direct and vicarious trauma on an acute, cumulative and chronic basis. Research suggests high rates of burnout and vicarious traumatisation in CPW with resultant effects including individual impacts with consequent impacts on turnover.Although exposed to chronic and cumulative adversity many CPW continue to operate effectively for extended period in this field. The predominant focus of previous research on the effects of this work context on CPW and the workforce has been aligned with psychopathology focusing on the distress experienced and the negative impacts.Resilience is considered to be a normal and more likely outcome for the majority of individuals following an adverse experience. While resilience is a concept which is consistently considered in the field of child protection where it relates to children, little consideration has been given to the resilience of CPW. Resilient CPW are likely to continue in the field for extended periods and provide effective services. This indicates there is benefit in examining the resilience of CPW. Given the limited research on worker resilience, particularly in the field of child protection, there is benefit in seeking to better understand the experiences of CPW as it relates to the development and maintenance of their resilience.Drawing on social constructionism as a theoretical framework, this study explored the understandings and experiences of resilience for CPW. The study considered how frontline CPW, who self-identified as resilient, understood their own resilience, the resilience of other staff, and the contributors to resilience in this adverse context. Semistructured, in-depth interviews were conducted with CPW on two occasions over a period of approximately thirteen months using a reflective approach to gain a deeper understanding of resilience and what affects resilience in this difficult work environment.The understanding of how CPW perceive and experience resilience gained through the study provides insights into how they develop and maintain an ability to work effectively when challenged with ongoing traumatic exposure. The study builds on the understanding of the process of resilience and poses a theoretical model that enhances current understandings of resilience. Although there are limitations to the generalisability of the findings due to the qualitative methodology and sample size, this study provides...

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The Development of the Trauma Therapist: A Qualitative Study of the Child Therapist's Perspectives and Experiences

Cited by 20 publications

References 15 publications

Psychological trauma in professionals working with traumatised children

Psychological trauma in professionals working with traumatised children

An Ecological Perspective: Therapist Practices with Children who Experienced Abuse and Trauma

Witnessing resilience: resilience of child protection workers in Queensland

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