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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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).

7. 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

8. (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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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%

14. 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)

15. 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

16. 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)

17. 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)

18. 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.

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

20. Questions? Comments?

21. 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.
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),
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),
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), Doi: /j 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.