Mental Health Professionals are continuously working with individuals who have several traumatic events that may have occurred in their lives. A perfect example would be the disastrous event of Hurricane Katrina that occurred in New Orleans, Louisiana. There were several Mental Health Professionals who worked numerous amounts of hours to assist these individuals in healing post-Katrina. These Mental Health Professionals also began to encounter negative mental health problems from counseling the clients who have been through disastrous events. This is called vicarious traumatization. The therapist will begin to get a negative sense of self, as almost feeling sorry, and not trusting themselves, or their beliefs. This literature goes on to discuss the frequency of vicarious traumatization in mental health professionals after Hurricane Katrina. This literature is also describing how Mental Health Professionals begin to encounter negative mental health problems as a result of counseling their clients who have withstood disastrous events in their lives such as Hurricane Katrina.
The basic approach is both quantitative and qualitative: a mixed-methods design as described by Tashakkori and Teddlie. Wherein the analysis is multilevel with quantitative data at one level from the mental health provider, and quantitative data from the agency director. For Phase 1, mental health professionals from mental health agencies located in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans area were surveyed to explore the effects of vicarious traumatization. There were approximately 200 individuals who engaged in this study. Out of the 30 individuals who completed the survey, there were 24 females and 6 males, 90% of who were Caucasian, with the remaining 10% African American, Hispanic, and Native American. Phase 2 enlisted five agency directors, four females, and one male, four Caucasian, and one Hispanic who were interviewed to examine the impact of vicarious traumatization on the personal and professional functioning of mental health professionals.
A 29-item questionnaire, the Vicarious Traumatization Questionnaire, was developed by the researchers with item content based on the current conceptual literature on vicarious trauma. This was a tool to measure the counselor’s private identification with vicarious traumatization. The results of the study showed that therapists who worked with post-Katrina victims had a higher rate of developing vicarious traumatization. It is very important that therapists are taught to work with individuals who experience disastrous events. It is also essential for these therapists who are counseling these types of individuals to be sure that they maintain their sanity by having the proper system of support, necessary training, and the chance to when needed to avoid these occurrences. This literature supports the fact that therapists have a greater tendency to suffer from burnout, and vicarious traumatization after disastrous events such as Hurricane Katrina. This literature also states that therapists could decrease their possibility of developing vicarious traumatization by allowing time away in order to ensure themselves of a healthy well-being.
This survey was strictly voluntary, so the respondents were a small group. However, this report shows that it is possible that individuals who have experienced vicarious traumatization could possibly not believe that they are experiencing these symptoms and not want to participate in the questionnaire. The study became even more factual when new demographic information and knowledge about vicarious traumatization had on counselors and their work. It was proven that several health professionals that provided their services to individuals after Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana did have negative physical and emotional changes that could possibly be related to working with victims after Katrina. This study showed how significant it is for mental health professionals to also receive healthy mental healthcare when working with vicarious traumatizaion situations such as Katrina and Isaac.
Mental Health Professionals' Experiences of Vicarious Traumatization in Post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Full Text Available By: Culver, Leslie M.; McKinney, Bridget L.; Paradise, Louis V. Journal of Loss & Trauma, Jan/Feb2011, Vol. 16 Issue 1, p33-42, 10p, 1 Chart; DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2010.519279
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