Question Description: As a helping professional, many factors can influence the development of vicarious trauma, including client accounts and your own personal and professional experiences. The shifts in cognitive schemas, as discussed in this week’s Discussion, however, are not absolute. You can participate in activities that can minimize or ameliorate the effects of VT. Self-awareness and self-assessment are critical in identifying the development of VT. It is important to note that practitioners who are more susceptible to VT, such as those working with survivors of critical incidents, especially need to be aware of the symptoms and take steps to minimize the development of VT.
For this Assignment, reflect on the strategies you read about and those you may know from outside this course. Consider those that you use currently or might use in the future to mitigate the effects of VT. Complete the Compassion Fatigue Self Test and analyze the results.
The Assignment (2–3 pages):
Summarize the results of the self-assessment.
Explain what you learned about yourself as it relates to vicarious trauma.
Describe three strategies that you might use to mitigate the effects of vicarious trauma, and explain why you selected each.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are required to provide a reference list and to appropriately cite, in APA style, all references used within your Assignment.
One strategy that I can use to mitigate vicarious trauma is self-observation. Self-observation is about monitoring one’s emotions to ensure they are not affected by the client’s trauma. Some of the signs of vicarious trauma are feelings of rage, anger, and sadness about the situation that the client has undergone. Another sign is experiencing bystander shame and guilt. By monitoring oneself, a counselor can recognize when they are about to get vicarious trauma and therefore take necessary steps to minimize it. During practice, I will sympathize with my client but not allow to be carried away and start having the client’s emotions. Whenever I feel
