Traumatic events affect many more people than those directly exposed: witnesses, loved ones, rescue personnel, people who identify with a particular characteristic of the event, and helpers, including psychotherapists who help their clients recover from traumatic events. Symptoms of vicarious trauma resemble those of trauma and can negatively affect the body, one's emotional life, one's cognitive and spiritual frame work, and one's social and relational life. Ironically, the more we, as psychotherapists, are open and sensitive towards our clients who have suffered trauma, the more we can be at risk to experience vicarious trauma ourselves. In this webinar, we will discuss origins and effects of vicarious trauma, and explore somatic, emotional, cognitive and communal ways of working with them. Our guiding question will be, how to stay open and compassionate towards the suffering of others while maintaining, even increasing, our resilience and strength.
- Trainer: Darlene Cohn, PhD (she/her)
- Trainer: Brigitta Karelis (she/her)