Back in 2016 an article was published (101 Fundraising) regarding the mental wellbeing of professional fundraisers and how they can be exposed to vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout and yet even today very little support is given to staff in these roles.
It is widely recognised that those on the frontline of caring for others e.g. firefighters, aid workers, paramedics etc are at risk of developing mental health issues, potentially leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are also so many other roles that could be categorised as high risk due to the level of exposure to traumatic material, such as fundraisers, researchers, and front-of-office staff. While these roles are not on the frontline, pulling bodies from collapsed buildings, medically caring for someone who is severely injured, or supporting a survivor of sexual violence, their role is indeed to help. They are often exposed to listing to traumatic stories of supporters and donors. There is a great deal of research now to show the risk of being effected by traumatic material indirectly, known as vicarious trauma. At FD Consultants we make sure organisations do not overlook the corrosive impact of vicarious trauma, sometimes known as secondary trauma. Research states that by listening to stories of trauma, we can start to be impacted by trauma symptoms, especially if we are empathic or intuitive, as our mirror neurones start to fire in the same way as the person telling us the story. Listening to the media or reading traumatic material can impact us vicariously. We also offer a half-day ‘Trauma and Vicarious Trauma Workshop’. Staff that are identified in ‘high risk’ roles, possibly through the location or intensity of their work, or the risk of being exposed to traumatic material, whether directly or indirectly, would benefit from this workshop. There are many myths and misunderstanding about how to best treat individuals who are traumatised. There is also a great risk of re-traumatising someone, who is suffering from trauma symptoms, without the knowledge from this workshop. Therefore, this workshop is also helpful for managers supporting staff who may be suffering from PTSD or vicarious trauma. Peer support programmes train peers to offer early and good quality support which can prevent an individual’s vicarious trauma developing into post-traumatic stress disorder, or stress developing into burnout. If someone goes off work with stress-related issues they may be off work for a few days, if someone goes off work with burnout, they may be off work for weeks or even months and may never return to the workplace. Additionally, research shows that when an individual receives support early, they will recover quicker, therefore preventing long-term health problems. Please do contact us at [email protected] if you require our psychological support services. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly.
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With the recent news that Facebook has agreed to pay £42m to content moderators as compensation for mental health issues developed on the job, it highlights the significant increase in staff being exposed to traumatic material via social media. In 2018, a group of US moderators hired by third-party companies to review content sued Facebook for failing to create a safe work environment. The moderators alleged that reviewing violent and graphic images - sometimes of rape and suicide - for the social network had led to them developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Untreated PTSD can cause permanent damage to the brain due to the person living in a hyper-aroused state. The effects of PTSD can cause someone to put him/herself in danger or even endanger others including his/her family members. Misdiagnosed or untreated PTSD is commonly associated with substance abuse. Drugs or alcohol can act as a coping mechanism, provide a temporary escape or chance to get away or relieve physical and psychological pain. The misuse of alcohol or drugs can lead to a number of other complications in a life already complicated by PTSD. Alcohol and drug use only serve as a temporary solution. Once the substance wears off, a person will be in the same position or a worse one than before. One of the most popular workshops we offer at FD Consultants is our trademark Trauma and Vicarious Trauma awareness workshop for individuals and organisations. The training enables individuals to identify trauma symptoms, triggers, and have resources to process traumatic material. As a preventative training it helps to build a healthy organisational culture, with wellbeing at its heart, ensuring staff are working in a psychologically safe and compassionate work environment. Managers also feel confident to recognise the risk of trauma and help or signpost staff to the most appropriate support. We have seen an increase in demand for these workshops from Journalists, IT Companies, Artificial Intelligence Organisations, Mental Health charities and the Humanitarian Sector where teams are identified as in ‘high risk roles’ likely to be exposed to traumatic material directly or indirectly. FD Consultants are trained in the recommended (WHO, APA and NICE) treatments of trauma and PTSD which are Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT). Please do contact us at [email protected] if you require our psychological support services. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly. A recent study published by PLOS ONE and carried out by a number of esteemed psychologists has found that Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) appeared to be the most cost effective intervention for adults with PTSD. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe and disabling condition that may lead to functional impairment and reduced productivity. A considerable proportion of people exposed to trauma, around 5.6%, will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [1]. For staff in the Humanitarian sector and emergency first responders research has suggested PTSD is as high as 30%. EMDR: how does it work? Francine Shapiro, PhD, Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, California and Executive Director of the EMDR Institute, California, is the ‘originator and developer’ of EMDR. Since then, EMDR has been adapted and reworked based on the research and contributions of therapists and researchers the world over. Initially used as a treatment with Vietnam veterans who weren’t recovering, it has since proven successful in treating various other presentations, including anxiety, phobias, addictions, depression, complicated grief, abuse and performance anxiety. The unique feature in EMDR therapy is that it uses bilateral stimulation (BLS) whilst processing the distressing memory. BLS can be conducted by following the therapist’s hand as it moves from left to right, watching a light bar, or tapping. The same can also be achieved through listening to alternating bilateral tones or holding buzzers. The BLS alleviates negative cognitions, negative emotion and unpleasant physical sensations associated with a traumatic or distressing memory. An important concept of EMDR is the ‘Adaptive Information Processing (AIP)’ theory. This means the client begins to reformulate and update dysfunctional self-beliefs and replaces them with positive self-reflecting beliefs. Therefore, EMDR promotes our innate healing process and reformats dysfunctional information to functional, so that it becomes adaptive information processing. ‘Just as the river flows to the sea and the body heals the wound, EMDR clears the trauma and brings integration and wholeness’ (Parnell, 2007, p. 6). In discussing EMDR, Professor Gordon Turnbull states: ‘Therapists and patients were reporting that problems that had been resistant to years of psychotherapy were being resolved in a very short amount of time – sometimes within a few sessions’ (Turnbull, 2011). In my experience of working within the field of trauma for over 15 years I have never witnessed such a powerful and successful way of working with traumatised and anxious clients: ‘EMDR works effectively and helps the client return to work quickly and safely after a traumatic event’ (Dunkley & Claridge, 2012). FD Consultants are trained in the recommended (WHO, APA and NICE) treatments of trauma and PTSD which are Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT). We have worked extensively with emergency first responders and aid workers globally to combat PTSD and vicarious trauma. All associates have over 10 years’ experience in the profession, are highly skilled, and qualified to meet the requirements to work for FD Consultants. We can offer appointments and training in various languages. Associates have experience of working with the humanitarian sector, emergency first responders and mental health charities. They have worked or lived internationally, facilitate training, and have trauma expertise; making them perfectly placed to support a broad cross-section of society and organisations. Please do contact us at [email protected] if you require our psychological support services. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly. References 1. Koenen KC, Ratanatharathorn A, Ng L, McLaughlin KA, Bromet EJ, Stein DJ, et al. Posttraumatic stress disorder in the World Mental Health Surveys. Psychol Med. 2017; 47(13):2260–74. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291717000708 PMID: 28385165 |
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