Supervisors’ Perception of Vicarious Trauma and Growth in Australian Refugee Trauma Counsellors

ABSTRACT

Vicarious trauma is a well-accepted phenomenon supported by more than 20 years of research, yet the body of research on the positive impact, known as vicarious post-traumatic growth, is relatively small. Based on a metasynthesis of qualitative peer-reviewed vicarious trauma studies, Cohen and Collens propose a model of the co-occurrence of vicarious trauma and vicarious post-traumatic growth. This model was examined through a qualitative study involving 11 interviews with supervisors of refugee trauma counsellors working in Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT) member agencies. This research project both reviewed the model from the perspective of experienced supervisors and illuminated what occurred within the supervision process to manage vicarious trauma and encourage vicarious post-traumatic growth. While the research project affirmed aspects of the model, the failure of the model to consider socio-political factors limited its applicability to FASSTT agencies.

IMPLICATIONS

• FASSTT clinical supervisors engage in supervision in a manner that may assist counsellors to process how their clients’ trauma disclosures impact on their levels of stress and change their perception of self, their role, and their worldview.

• Including recognition of the influence of the socio-political context of refugee trauma and trauma recovery may be an important additional component of supervision practice.

替代性创伤有二十多年的研究做支撑，是一个为人熟知的现象。但其正面的影响，如替代性创伤后的成长，我们却知之不多。科恩和柯伦斯根据同行评价的定性创伤研究，提出了替代性创伤与替代性创伤后成长同时发生的模型。本文对难民创伤辅导员所做了11次访谈，以此验证该模型。本研究一则从有经验的辅导者的角度评价这个模型，一则说明辅导过程中都发生了哪些情况以控制替代性创伤并鼓励替代性创伤后的成长。本文对模型的某些部分给予肯定，同时指出其未能考虑社会政治因素，限制了它对于“澳大利亚破害与创伤服务中心论坛”机构的适用性。

KEYWORDS:

• Vicarious Trauma
• Vicarious Growth
• Supervision
• Refugee Trauma
• Trauma Counselling

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.