Description
Written for women working in anti-violence fields (e.g. domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault). Uses a strong gender lens and the specific challenges for women workers in these fields.
What's the evidence base for this resource
Based on the author's 8 months of consultations with expert workers in the sector, the Canadian National Advisory Committee on Family Violence. The author was contracted by the Centre for Research on Violence Against Women and Children in London, Ontario, The University of Western Ontario, to produce this report for the Family Violence Prevention Unit, Health Canada.
Potential uses and limitations
The resource is intended for women workers in anti-violence work. Some of the content is also quite specific to the Canadian context. Also note that the publication date is 2001.
Covers topics ranging from individual self-care practices, to organisational strategies. The uniquely feminist perspective, with an emphasis on gender and social justice, sets this apart from many other trauma related resources. The section on organisational strategies includes sections on:
Feminist Philosophy
Social Justice
Organizational Structure
Staffing
Human Resources Policies and Practices
Training
Administrative and Support Staff
Hiring
Orientation and Training
Personal Relationships of Staff
Supervision
Retreats and Celebrations
Exiting Gracefully
Where it comes from
Published by National Clearinghouse on Family Violence, Canada. Some of the content does apply specifically to the Canadian context.
Description (article abstract): This study identified workplace factors associated with secondary traumatic stress (STS) in a sample of 148 domestic violence advocates working in diverse settings. Findings indicate that co-worker support and quality clinical supervision are critical to emotional well-being and that an environment in which there is shared power—that is, respect for diversity, mutuality, and consensual decision making—provides better protection for advocates than more traditional, hierarchical organizational models. Furthermore, shared power emerged as the only workplace variable to significantly predict STS above and beyond individual factors. The discussion includes implications for practice and policy as well as directions for future research.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801209347469
What's the evidence base for this resource: Published in peer reviewed academic journal.
Potential uses and limitations: Discusses the importance of worker empowerment as a key protective factor. Could be a useful discussion starter where workers report severe lack of control and power in the workplace.
Where it comes from: Slattery, S. M., & Goodman, L. A. (2009). Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Domestic Violence Advocates: Workplace Risk and Protective Factors. Violence Against Women, 15(11), 1358–1379.
Description: This self-assessment tool has been designed to provide you with a checklist to assess your performance and plan of systems and processes required to ensure the health and safety of workers undergoing Machinery of Government (MoG) changes.
What's the evidence base for this resource: The self-assessment tool is deisgned to assist employers act in accordance with the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) (Commonwealth legistlation). There is no other explanation of the evidence informing the tool.
Potential uses and limitation: This tool should be used by managers and people responsbile for organisational change, to review your current planning and implementation of organisational change in the areas of Consultation, Prevention, Early Intervention, Rehabilitation and Return to Work (RTW), and Management and Leadership
It is not specific to Vicarious Trauma. However, clear communication regarding organisational change relates to some of the items in the VT-ORG, so this may be useful where the VT-ORG indicates this area needs attention.
Where it comes from: Comcare Australia.
Description: This series of video presentations critiques the notions of 'burnout' and 'vicarious trauma'. Instead, Dr Reynolds suggests 'spiritual pain' as a more accurate term to describe what happens when workers are faced with the effects that oppression has on the lives of clients. She argues that the key question for workers and organisations is not 'how is your mental health?', but rather 'how are we treating each other?'
Dr Reynolds has also written about her approach to 'centring ethics' in supervision to explore the harms experienced by workers in this article which she has made freely available through her website.
Dr Vikki Reynolds is an activist/therapist who works to bridge the worlds of social justice activism with community work & therapy.
What's the evidence base for this resource: Dr Reynold's
experience includes supervision and therapy with refugees and survivors
of torture, sexualized violence counsellors, mental health and substance
misuse counsellors, housing and shelter workers, activists and working
alongside gender and sexually diverse communities.
Potential uses and limitation: Provides a perspective on "vicarious trauma" that challenges clinical, symptom focused frameworks. Useful for workplaces that place ethical considerations at the centre of their work, to think about how teams and organisations can develop effective practices of collective care and accountability.
Where it comes from: Dr Vikki Reynolds' professional development presentation for the BC Settlement and Language Service Providers' Provincial Meeting hosted by AMSSA, 2017.
Description: A clearly described set of communication principles aimed at promoting transparency and shared power in decision making.
What's the evidence base for this resource: Based on practice experience/wisdom the organisation. The guidelines are explicitly based on an
ethical commitment to respectful communication, rather than a positivist
evidence based or clinical approach.
Potential uses and limitations: A simple, useful guide where communication from leadership, or within teams, is identified as a problem.
Where it comes from: Developed by the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence .
The guidelines have been made available by the US VTT site