Traumatic Experiences and Self Concept

1. HCS321
Traumatic experiences and self concept

2. Agenda
The idea of self concept
The range of traumas that happen
to children
Protective factors
Resilience
Indirect trauma and self care

3. Self Concept
Psychological & Philosophical term
More than just awareness
or self esteem
Constructed during
childhood
The motivator/inhibitor for
change – resilience factor

4. The Range of
traumas
Abuse/Violence
Is neglect traumatic?
Disaster trauma
Overwhelming and Imposed
trauma
PTSD
From Vietnam to Domestic
Violence and child abuse

5. Protective
factors
Protective factors actively reduce
the risk of abuse and neglect for
kids
What are protective factors?
This government resource has
some really good examples of
protective factors;
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications
/risk-and-protective-factors-child-
abuse-and-neglect

6. Resilience in
Children and
Young people

7. Resilience
‘Resilience is the process of
adapting well in the face of
adversity, trauma, tragedy,
threats, or even significant
sources of stress — such as
family and relationship
problems, serious health
problems, or workplace and
financial stressors. It means
“bouncing back” from difficult
experiences’
American Psychological Association (2017)

8. Indirect trauma
Indirect trauma - an umbrella
term that captures the range of
effects that working with
people in trauma or survivors
of trauma has on practitioners
(and students). It incorporates;
Secondary traumatic stress
Vicarious trauma; and
 Compassion fatigue (Knight, 2013)

9. Indirect
trauma
Secondary traumatic stress (STS)
The reactions of survivors to
their experience of trauma are
mirrored for the clinician in
response to hearing their client’s
stories and reactions
The symptoms of STS are
therefore almost identical to
those associated with post-
traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)
(Knight, 2013)

10. Indirect
trauma
Vicarious trauma
“A cumulative transformation in the
inner experience of the therapist that
comes about as a result of empathic
engagement with the client's
traumatic material” (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995, p.
31)
Most significant impact is disruption
of world view
Concerns about trust, safety and the
nature of people.
Other reactions include higher stress,
anxiety and sleep disturbance (Knight,
2013; Cunningham, 2004)

11. Indirect
trauma
Compassion fatigue
Different from the other
two in that it does not
mirror clients’ symptoms
Involves losing the ability to
empathise with clients
Can be a function of the
client’s suspicion and
mistrust (Knight 2013)

12. Burnout
Burnout is associated with feelings of
hopelessness and problems in relation
to managing your work or doing your
job effectively.
These feelings tend to have a gradual
onset
They can be associated with a sense
that nothing you do is making a
difference.
Burnout is often associated with
difficult organisational or workplace
conditions.

13. Taking Care
of Yourself
Know your own limits
Set boundaries
Nurture yourself
Seek support
Keeping your ‘tank’ full

14. What do you
need to keep
‘running’?