Coping with Vicarious Traumatization for Psychologist

Psychologist living vicariously, they are experiencing something from the counselee indirectly or even directly. It’s not for all, if a Psychologistdoes therapy for more than 7 patients daily, he can feel this VICARIOUS.

As a part of empathy, the psychologist experience through the lens of counselees problems (includes individual sessions and family sessions too)When psychologists do an assessment, they hear the details of a traumatic or unpleasant situation, a grievance which causes them to get negative or trauma. Probably like whole water is pouring on their mind where it’s difficult to breathe.

Sometimes counselee even takes more than one hour to express their problem, when a psychologist experienced an empathetic response to human suffering. Some psychologists (if they are not trained to close the session for 40mins to a 50minsapproximately-therapeutic hour) likely to experience vicarious traumatization.

The Psychologist must aware of this vicarious traumatization.Vicarious traumatization (VT), is a transformation in the self of the Psychologist that results from empathic engagement with traumatized counselee and their reports of traumatic experiences.

It is a special form of countertransference stimulated by exposure to the counselee's traumatic material.The professional psychologist cannot disengage during sessions; they are emotionally(empathetically) connected to them like the umbilical cord of mother and baby to experience the counselee's feelings. Because of this traumatization, many psychologists are showing tantrums with their family and friends.

They are losing their peace themselves slowly

How does the Psychologist can take care of themselves?

• The psychologist must be trained to be aware of the vicarious traumatization from the beginning of their graduation in Psychology.
• The Psychologist has to develop their own methods of dealing with or preventing vicarious trauma. (Example seeing them as files, small break after a session, washing your hand(palm)on rock salt- heals negative energy, keeping a bowl of rock salt at their clinic)
• If the psychologist has any recent trauma or stress like recent job loss or death of a closed one, it's good not to choose the same kind of counselee for a while of time.
• Emotional wellness and self-care are also very important for a psychologist.
• Sale care includes psychologist quality of sleep, eating a healthy diet, limiting the counselee appointment based on your threshold internal energy, deep breathing (any relaxation techniques which suit you), spending time with family and friends and enjoys the leisure activities on what he likes/do.
• You can imagine, like “watching a movie”, feel like counselee is describing their problem and psychologist must not become part of that movie character.
• A psychologist should also get help from others if they feel exhausted or feeling to share their professional trauma. At the same never use the above reason to stop seeing your counselees, if you cannot, you can refer them to other psychologists where your counselee will get benefitted. Train yourself/mold yourself to get experience to handle counselees properly and professionally.

SO "TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TO TAKE CARE OF OTHERS"