Vicarious Exposure to Trauma and Growth in Therapists: The Moderating Effects of Sense of Coherence, Organisational Support and Empathy

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Brockhouse, Rebecca; Msetfi, Rachel; Cohen, Keren and Joseph, Stephen. 2011. Vicarious Exposure to Trauma and Growth in Therapists: The Moderating Effects of Sense of Coherence, Organisational Support and Empathy. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24(6), pp. 735-742. ISSN 0894-9867 [Article]

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Official URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.207...

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Therapists who work with traumatised individuals can experience psychological growth following this vicarious exposure to trauma. The purpose of the present study is to examine the variables that may moderate such vicarious posttraumatic growth. Therapists (N=118) completed measures of vicarious exposure to trauma and growth, as well as empathy, sense of coherence and perceived organisational support. Results showed that having a strong sense of coherence negatively predicted growth whereas empathy was a positive predictor. Empathy also moderated the exposure to growth relationship when growth involved relating to others. Organisational support did not predict growth. This has implications for the recruitment, training and supervision of therapists working with individuals who have experienced trauma.

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Article

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https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.20704