Supervising helpers who work with the trauma of sexual abuse

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion in this journal about counsellors’ experiences of vicarious traumatisation (Sexton, 1999; Dunkley & Whelan, 2006a, b). It builds on my previous paper (Etherington, 2000a) that focused on the role of supervision in moderating the potential impact on helpers, and on the helping relationship, of working with survivors of sexual abuse. It examines the role of unconscious empathy and counter-transference in the development of vicarious traumatisation, and uses psychodynamic, narrative, neuroscience, and resilience literature, woven together with the author's reflexive engagement as a counsellor, supervisor, and researcher. The paper suggests that supervision, at its most useful for people working in this field, might best be focussed on the inter-relationship between the trauma itself, the person of the counsellor, the helping relationship, and the context in which the work is offered. It suggests ways that supervisors might support helpers to sustain themselves whilst working in the difficult field of abuse and trauma

Keywords:

• supervision
• trauma
• abuse
• vicarious traumatisation
• resilience
• empathic strain