Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Student Affairs Staff Erik Sorensen NASPA Strategies Conference Portland, OR January 19, 2018

Learning Objectives Understand Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and how it may affect Student Affairs Professionals and student staff. Summarize research and literature surrounding STS Develop a plan to assess and discuss STS with supervisees and colleagues

Introduction Current Ph.D. student at Miami University Assistant Director of Residence Life 12 years of experience supervising Resident Assistants M.Ed. in Counselor Education

Why this topic is important Not a lot of research on particular populations, including Student Affairs staff Not a lot of answers on how to address STS Anecdotally understood, but data can provide a stronger selling point

Terminology STS Immediate Single instance Stress from helping (Figley, 1995) Vicarious Trauma Chronic Trauma experience (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995) Burnout Chronic Universal Cumulative stress (Maslach, 1981) Compassion Fatigue Often interchanged with STS STS+Burnout (Joinson, 1992) Newell and MacNeil (2010) for comparisons – see references

Secondary Traumatic Stress is “the natural, consequent behaviors and emotions resulting from knowledge about a traumatizing event experienced by a significant other. It is the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering person” (Figley, 1995, p. 10). “STS is about work‐related, secondary exposure to people who have experienced extremely or traumatically stressful events” (Stamm, 2010, p. 13).

Measuring STS Professional Quality of Life Survey (ProQOL) (Stamm, 2005) Available free at proqol.org Includes a manual for scoring (Stamm, 2010) Not intended to be diagnostic

(Some) Symptoms of STS Hypervigilance Difficulty sleeping, nightmares Anxiety Feelings of shame about no longer feeling like a warm, compassionate caregiver Lower energy Depersonalization (also a marker of burnout) Depression Exhaustion Anger and irritability Impacts ability to believe the world is a safe place Feeling a loss of control

Literature on STS Affecting Helping Populations Counselors Social Workers Students in these programs Police Rescue Workers Clergy Special Education Hospice Workers Conduct Hearing Officers Resident Assistants

Findings Regarding Conduct Officers Bernstein Chernoff, 2016 Average STS, regardless of years of experience. Compassion satisfaction and fatigue differed in the most experienced and least experienced conduct officers. Higher levels of STS with more direct student contact hours Recommendations include: Supervisory awareness of stressors Using ProQOL to explore STS among staff Time away and relaxation Training on these trauma-related stresses

Findings from my research STS among Resident Assistant student staff Resident Assistant Stress Inventory (Dickson, 1977) Emotional Resiliency Counseling Skills Confrontive Skills Facilitative Leadership Environmental Adjustment Values Development Supportive Supervisory Scale (McGlinton, 2010) ProQOL

Sample 6 institutions 189 respondents 13.8% response rate 73% female 67.9% white 56.9% FY RAs 27.4% Low STS 44% Avg STS 28.6% High STS

Study Participation by Race (IPEDS Code) Number Percentage White 127 67.9% Black or African American 28 15.0% Asian 16 8.6% Multiracial 15 8.0% American Indian or Alaskan Native 1 0.5% Asked in a separate question, per IPEDS recommendation Race Number Percentage Hispanic/Latino 11 5.9%

Results of Regression in this sample Predictors of STS Non-Predictors of STS Environmental Adjustment (+) Sex Race Facilitative Leadership (+) Years of exp. as RA Frequency of assisting with a crisis (+) Emotional Resiliency Values Development Supervisor Support (-) Confrontive Skills Counseling Skills (unless weighted by sex)

Supervisor Support as Moderator Supervisor Support served to moderate the relationship between each RASI factor and STS Supportive Supervision is likely integral to combating STS

Possible Ways to Reduce the Risk of STS Educate on STS (the traditional approach) Staff Preparation and Training Self-care Self-compassion (Neff, 2018) Supervision Change the environment Systemic Changes Workload considerations Staffing patterns Game-based development (make work fun)

Supportive Supervisory Scale My supervisor recognizes my ability to deliver quality care. My supervisor tries to meet my needs. My supervisor knows me well enough to know when I have concerns about resident care. My supervisor tries to understand my point of view when I speak to them. My supervisor tries to meet my needs in such ways as informing me of what is expected of me when working with my residents. I can rely on my supervisor when I ask for help, for example, if things are not going well between myself and my co-workers or between myself and residents and/or their families. My supervisor keeps me informed of any major changes in the work environment or organization. I can rely on my supervisor to be open to any remarks that I may make to them. My supervisor keeps me informed of any decisions that were made in regards to my residents. My supervisor strikes a balance between residents’/families’ concerns and mine. My supervisor encourages me even in difficult situations. My supervisor makes a point of expressing appreciation when I do a good job. My supervisor respects me as a person. My supervisor makes time to listen to me. My supervisor recognizes my strengths and areas for development. (McGlinton, 2010)

Consider supervision, policy, and practice. STS Action Plan Take a few moments to take some notes about how you can incorporate the ideas listed above into your work. Consider supervision, policy, and practice.

Shameless Plug sorense@Miamioh Shameless Plug sorense@Miamioh.edu Feedback, Questions, Discussions, and Participation all WELCOME!

Questions? Comments?

References Bernstein Chernoff, C.R. (2016). The crisis of caring: compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue among student conduct and behavior intervention professionals. Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6066/ Dickson, G.L. (1977). The resident assistant stress inventory – A focus on individualized RA in- service education. Journal of College and University Student Housing, 7(1), 22-25. Figley, C.R. (Ed.) (1995). Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder in Those Who Treat the Traumatized. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Joinson, C. (1992). Coping with compassion fatigue. Nursing, 22(4), 118-120. Maslach, C. (1981). Burnout: The cost of caring. Prentiss Hall Inc., New York. McGilton, K.S. (2010). Development and psychometric testing of the supportive supervisory scale. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 42(2), 223-232. Doi: 10.1111/j.1547-5069.2009.01323.x. Neff, K. (2018). Retrieved from self-compassion.org on January 15, 2018. Newell, J.M. & MacNeil, G.A. (2010). Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue: A review of theoretical terms, risk factors, and preventative methods for clinicians and researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health, 6(2), 57 – 68. Pearlman, L. A. & Saakvitne, K. W. (1995). Trauma and the therapist: Countertransference and vicarious traumatization in psychotherapy with incest survivors. New York: Norton. Stamm, B. H. (2005). The ProQOL Manual: The professional quality of life scale: Compassion satisfaction, burnout & compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress scales. Pocatello, ID: Sidran Press. Stamm, B.H. (2010). The Concise ProQOL Manual, 2nd Ed. Pocatello, ID: ProQOL.org.