Sexual Abuse Counsellors' Response to Stress and Trauma: a Social Work Perspective

Abstract

Based on qualitative interviews with 36 ACC-approved counsellors and their significant others, this research explores the range of social, organisational and theoretical factors that impact on sexual abuse counsellors. In this context the author explores the relevance of "vicarious traumatisation" and the strategies and theoretical approaches used to foster counsellors' well-being. Current literature about vicarious traumatisation suggests that counsellors' exposure to their clients' trauma may increase their risk of burn-out and secondary traumatisation. The relationship between counsellors' responses to their clients' trauma and the theoretical frameworks they use in practice, and the impact of the counsellors' work on their relationships with their partners, colleagues, friends and family, are explored. The model of stress and trauma developed highlights that counsellors experience stress when there are inconsistencies between their personal philosophies, their practice experience (or what they are exposed to in their dealings with dients) and the theoretical frameworks they use in practice. This sense of disjuncture provides the impetus for the development of alternative frameworks for practice that increase the resilience of counsellors who work intensively with traumatic material. The model of stress and trauma developed introduces a multi-level understanding of the challenges faced by sexual abuse counsellors and the implications for their relationships with their significant others.