Promoting and Supporting Resiliency: Dealing with Vicarious Traumatization

Level: Supervisor

Credits: 6

Intended Audience: This course is for supervisors who supervise staff in stressful assignments, especially within child welfare

Description of Course: This course will provide the participant with information about secondary trauma, vicarious traumatization, burnout and stress so that s/he can identify
the symptoms within staff, recognize how symptoms affect work outcomes and provide an array of interventions to minimize or deal with the secondary trauma. Through lecturette, self-assessments, skills practice & coaching, and small group discussions, participants will prepare for appropriate interventions in the workplace which would include using other organizational resources such as EAP, resulting in an action plan.

Intended Objectives

• Define resiliency in staff & supervisor’s role to support resiliency
• Identify the difference between burnout and secondary trauma
• List signs and indicators of both burnout and secondary traumatization
• Develop strategies to assist workers with burnout and/or secondary trauma
• Practice addressing safety and well-being for workers
• Identify organizational resources and supports for dealing with burnout and secondary trauma
• List the steps necessary in a critical incident debriefing process
• Create a “resiliency action plan”

Topics Include:

• Vicarious traumatization
• Burnout
• Stress
• Professional Quality of Life
• Critical Incident Debriefing
• Resiliency