Title: 
Headings: Secondary Traumatic Stress Overview
Secondary
 
Traumatic
 
Stress
 
Overview
 

Definitions:
 

Common
 
Sources
 
of
 
Secondary
 
Traumatic
 
Stress:
 

Statistics:
 

How
 
to
 
recognize
 
it?
 

Affects:
 

Prevention:
  

Methods:
 

Current
 
Practices:
 


Content: The
 
symptoms
 
of
 
primary
 
and
 
secondary
 
trauma
 
can
 
be
 
similar
 
(Conrad). Common
 
Sources
 
of
 
Secondary
 
Traumatic
 
Stress: Secondary
 
Trauma
 
can
 
be
 
experienced
 
after
 
one
 
exposure
 
or
 
over
 
a
 
prolonged
 
period
 
of
 
time. Exposure
 
to
 
potentially
 
traumatic
 
sources
 
is
 
inherent
 
in
 
a
 
child
 
caseworker’s
 
job,
 
but
 
the
 
potential
 
for
 
STS
 
and
 
the
 
severity
 
of
 
symptoms
 
that
 
occur
 
can
 
be
 
mitigated. “Common
 
sources
 
of
 
secondary
 
trauma
 
in
 
social
 
workers
 
include: “Facing
 
the
 
death
 
of
 
a
 
child
 
or
 
adult
 
family
 
member
 
on
 
the
 
worker’s
 
caseload
 


 
Investigating
 
a
 
vicious
 
abuse/neglect
 
report
 


 
Frequent/chronic
 
exposure
 
to
 
emotional
 
and
 
detailed
 
accounts
 
by
 
children
 
of
 
traumatic
 
events
 


 
Photographic
 
images
 
of
 
horrific
 
injuries
 
or
 
scenes
 
of
 
a
 
recent
 
serious
 
injury
 
or
 
death
 


 
Continuing
 
work
 
with
 
families
 
in
 
which
 
serious
 
maltreatment,
 
domestic
 
violence,
 
or
 
sexual
 
abuse
 
is
 
occurring
 


 
Helping
 
support
 
grieving
 
family
 
members
 
following
 
a
 
child
 
abuse
 
death,
 
including
 
siblings
 
of
 
a
 
deceased
 
child”
 
(Siegfried,
 
2008). Statistics: In
 
a
 
study
 
done
 
among
 
child
 
protection
 
staff
 
in
 
Colorado,
 
approximately
 
50%
 
of
 
the
 
staff
 
was
 
found
 
to
 
be
 
suffering
 
from
 
“high
 
or
 
very
 
high
 
levels
 
of
 
compassion
 
fatigue,”
 
yet
 
70%
 
reported
 
“high
 
or
 
good
 
potential
 
for
 
compassion
 
satisfaction”
 
(DePanfilis,
 
2006). In
 
a
 
study
 
done
 
by
 
Bride
 
(2007),
 
“70.2%
 
of
 
workers
 
experienced
 
at
 
least
 
one
 
of
 
the
 
core
 
symptoms
 
of
 
STS
 
in
 
the
 
previous
 
week”
 
(Siegfried,
 
2008). How
 
to
 
recognize
 
it?