Vicarious Trauma: What Child Advocacy Workers Need to Know

Vicarious trauma is the emotional impact that can result from repeatedly hearing about or witnessing other people's traumatic experiences. For child advocacy workers, therapists, victim advocates, law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and others who work with children affected by abuse, vicarious trauma can be a real occupational challenge.

At Cramer Children’s Advocacy Center in Northwest Alabama, our work centers on children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or witnessed violence. We provide forensic interviews, medical exams, trauma-focused therapy, victim advocacy, and coordination with the professionals involved in each child's case.

It is meaningful work. It is also heavy work. That's why supporting the people who help children matters, too.

What Is Vicarious Trauma?

Vicarious trauma occurs when repeated exposure to other people's traumatic experiences begins to affect a person's emotional well-being, sense of safety, or view of the world.

For child advocacy professionals, that exposure can happen in many ways.

It might mean listening to a child describe abuse during a forensic interview or supporting a parent who is overwhelmed. It may also mean reviewing difficult case information, helping a family navigate the criminal justice system, or sitting with a child as they begin the process of healing.

One difficult conversation may not seem like much. But when professionals hear difficult stories repeatedly, day after day and year after year, that exposure can take a toll.

And sometimes, the person experiencing that impact doesn't immediately recognize it.

Why Child Advocacy Workers May Be at Risk for Vicarious Trauma

People who choose child advocacy work often care deeply about children and families. That compassion is one of the things that makes the work possible. But caring deeply can also make it difficult to simply leave the work at work.

Child advocacy professionals may regularly encounter stories involving abuse, violence, neglect, family disruption, and other traumatic experiences. They may also work with families who are navigating fear, grief, anger, uncertainty, and the criminal justice process.

That doesn't mean everyone working in child advocacy will experience vicarious trauma.

It does mean that staff wellness needs to be part of the conversation.

The goal isn't to become less compassionate. The goal is to make sure compassion is sustainable.

What Are the Signs of Vicarious Trauma?

Vicarious trauma can look different from person to person. Some possible signs include:

• Emotional exhaustion

• Feeling unusually irritable or overwhelmed

• Difficulty disconnecting from work

• Changes in sleep

• Increased anxiety or worry

• Feeling emotionally numb or detached

• Becoming more pessimistic or less hopeful

• Feeling less safe or trusting than before

• Avoiding certain conversations or situations

• Finding it difficult to stop thinking about work after hours

Experiencing one or more of these signs doesn't necessarily mean someone has vicarious trauma. Stress, burnout, life circumstances, and many other factors can cause similar experiences.

But noticing changes in yourself—or in a colleague—is a good reason to pause and check in.

Vicarious Trauma vs. Burnout: What's the Difference?

Vicarious trauma and burnout can overlap, but they aren't exactly the same.

Burnout is generally associated with prolonged workplace stress. It can happen in any profession and may involve emotional exhaustion, frustration, reduced motivation, or feeling disconnected from work.

Vicarious trauma is specifically connected to repeated exposure to other people's traumatic experiences. It can sometimes affect how a person views themselves, other people, relationships, or the world around them.

A child advocacy professional can experience burnout, vicarious trauma, both, or neither.

We all must recognize the emotional demands of trauma-focused work to ensure the helpers are receiving help, too.

How Can Child Advocacy Organizations Support Staff Wellness?

Organizations have a role to play in creating workplaces where people can do difficult work without feeling like they have to carry everything alone.

That can include:

Creating opportunities to debrief. After a particularly difficult case or situation, giving staff a chance to talk through what happened can be valuable.

Encouraging time away from work. Rest is part of sustaining a career in emotionally demanding work.

Making it okay to ask for help. Employees should know that asking for support isn't a sign of weakness or failure.

Checking in with staff. A supervisor asking, "How is your workload?" is important. So is asking, "How are you doing?"

Building a supportive team culture. Coworkers who understand the unique challenges of the work can provide an important source of connection and encouragement.

Making professional support available. Employees should know what resources are available if the emotional demands of their work begin to feel overwhelming.

A healthy workplace doesn't expect its employees to simply absorb everything they encounter.

How Can You Support the Helpers?

You don't have to work at a Children's Advocacy Center to support the people who do this work. In fact, some of the simplest forms of support can make a difference.

Check in. A genuine "How are you doing?" can mean a lot.

Respect boundaries. People who spend their days caring for others need time to disconnect and recharge, too.

Celebrate the good moments. A child reaching a therapy milestone, a family feeling supported, or a difficult case moving forward can be worth celebrating. The victories matter.

Don't expect people to have all the answers. Sometimes someone needs a listening ear more than they need advice.

Encourage rest without guilt. Rest doesn't mean someone cares less about the children or families they serve.

And perhaps most importantly, remember this: The people helping children are people, too.

Supporting the Helpers Is Part of the Work

At Cramer Children’s Advocacy Center, we spend a lot of time talking about what children need to feel safe, supported, and able to heal.

The adults walking alongside those children need support, too.

That includes our staff and the many professionals who make up the larger child protection team—law enforcement officers, prosecutors, medical providers, therapists, victim advocates, educators, counselors, and others who encounter the effects of child abuse through their work.

Child advocacy is a community effort.

So is supporting the people who make that work possible.

Because taking care of the people who care for children isn't separate from the mission.

It is part of the mission.

Learn More About Cramer

Cramer Children’s Advocacy Center provides services at no cost to children and families affected by abuse or violence in Northwest Alabama. Learn more about our services, our team, and how you can support the work of helping children heal.