1. Ron Lybarger, Ph.D.
SLS KC
Spring 2014

2.  Discuss the nature of traumatic exposure
 The nature of interpreting related stress-how do you
cope?
 Coping strategies-stress management training/resources
 Professional Quality of Life Scales-Revised
 Emphasize personal responsibility

3.  Under stress (fight or flight) muscles tense and
blood flow is restricted to the main body and
reduced to the hands and feet
 Warmer hands->more relaxed->less cortisol
Colder hands->increased stress->more cortisol
 There is significant variance between individuals-
take time to find your set point

4.  1987-met Deaf man-JCCC-KSD-Park University
 1990-A.A.S.-Sign Language Interpreting-B.S. Addiction
Studies-MCDPDHHI>600 Deaf
 1992 M.A.-Counseling Psychology
 1995-UMKC-KSD-Private Practice
 1996-caseload of interpreters
 1999-Ph.D. Counseling Psychology
 2006 Sorenson-2012-911 Project
 Hundreds of Workshops and Trauma Debriefings

5.  The ability to grow and thrive in the face of life's
challenges and bounce back from adversity
 Increase self-awareness
 Improve self-regulation
 Enhance your ability to manage energy and
emotion in a stressful situation

6.  The natural consequent behaviors and emotions
resulting from knowledge about and exposure to a
traumatizing experience of a significant other (Figley,
1995)
 Caring people sometimes experience pain as a direct
result of exposure to others traumatic material….it is the
natural, predictable, treatable, and preventable
unwanted consequence of working with suffering people.
(Figley, 1999)

7.  Occupational hazards of interpreting can include
extreme & chronic stress, exposure to direct trauma,
secondary trauma, depression, and burnout
 Denial can be a natural response to these
conditions……
 Your trauma history will impact your emotional
processing and reactions
 Unidentified, unresolved trauma is likely to be activated
by similar reports of consumers

8.  In order to be self-aware and professionally effective as
possible, we need to become more aware of our own
issues, identify resources, and seek the necessary
support
 Interpreters must have your own sources of support and
resources or your work and personal lives will be
affected

9.  Physiological arousal
 Depression
 Anxiety
 Disrupted interpersonal relationships
 Increased sensitivity to violence
 Cynicism
 Social Withdrawal
 Sleep Problems
 Substance Abuse
 Eating disorders
 Feelings of hopelessness

10.  Tardiness or absenteeism
 Loss of motivation/energy
 Increased procrastination
 Social withdrawal
 Cynicism
 Resentment/indifference/defiance
 Increased use of substances

11.  Body, mind and spirit run out of resources
 Mental, physical and emotional damage
 Adrenals become depleted-blood sugar
plummets-decreased stress tolerance
 Progressive mental, physical and spiritual
exhaustion-illness-collapse

12.  Being depressed or having symptoms make you more vulnerable
to the negative effects of stress
 Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day
 Diminished interest or pleasure in activities
 Appetite disturbance-weight gain or loss
 Insomnia or hypersomnia
 Fatigue or loss of energy
 Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt
 Difficulty with concentration/decision making
 Thoughts of death-suicidal ideation
 Family history increases vulnerability 2-4X
 Average of 8 years after symptoms appear that folks seek
professional assistance

13.  Cardiovascular disease
 Musculoskeletal disorders
 Psycho-emotional disorders
 Workplace injury
 Suicide, cancer, ulcers and impaired immune
function

14.  Few people receive formal training on how to
manage stress-I’m gonna provide you some!
 Training and preparation is the best defense for
effectively coping with stress
 Individuals with good stress management skills
are happier and more productive both personally
and professionally
 Exercise, meditation, and yoga all are
beneficial in multiple ways
 Prevention is the most effective stress
management strategy

15.  Fight or flight
 Muscle tension
 Increased heart rate
 Eyes dilate
 Breathing changes
 Stomach may clench
 Biologically/neurologically wired for survival
 When perception of stress subsides, body returns
to normal-homeostasis

16.  Hypothalamus signals adrenals to produce cortisol
 Cortisol is a chemical messenger in the body-it causes
the liver to release energy
 Prolonged exposure=increased risk of long term damage
 Affects bodies ability to use insulin
 Cortisol-visceral fat
 Increases blood pressure
 De-stabilizes glycemic levels
 Can cause sugar/fat cravings
 Affects encoding of memory

18.  High cortisol levels cause us to age more quickly
and increase the risk of heart disease.
 Leads to depletion of essential nutrients.
 High cortisol levels increase your risk of infection
because it weakens the immune system and
increases the breakdown of muscle and tissue.

19.  Overtime, the adrenal glands cannot meet the demands
of continued stress and become fatigued.
 Adrenal fatigue eventually results in lower cortisol
because the glands cannot continue the elevated
production.
 Low cortisol levels due to adrenal fatigue causes many
unpleasant symptoms and increases the risk of health
conditions such as heart disease.

20.  Eating is a mood altering experience
 Food choices effect our ability to cope with
stress-glycemic control
 Anxiety and stress cause the body and mind to
crave sweet, fatty foods
 These foods/substances suppress the chemical
stress response happening in our bodies….also
release pain relieving hormones
 Simple carbs>tryptophan>serotonin

21.  Body’s response to long term stress
 Ongoing secretion of hormones-corticosteroids
 Increase in blood sugar levels
 Increased blood pressure
 Overuse of body’s reserves
 Eventually leads to disease

22.  Discussion of cognitive errors/distorted thinking
and how it contributes to life/occupational stress

23.  Emotion impedes rational thinking and sabotages
effective decision making
 Learn to identify emotions and thought patterns
that contribute to changes in your
 Understand how your emotions contribute to
your behavior
 Practice managing and modifying your emotions
 Reduce intensity and duration of painful emotions
 Identify and manage your emotional vulnerability

24.  Automatic thoughts
 Irrational thinking
 Rational rebuttal

25.  Learn to recognize and define what is stressful for you
 Identify unhealthy behaviors you use to cope
 Take decisive actions to create new more effective coping
strategies-BABY STEPS
 Learn to take care of yourself
 Get support

26.  Identify and manage sources of stress
 Relaxation techniques
 Thought management
 Stress prevention

27.  Exercise
 Meditation
 Yoga
 Spiritual activity
 Rest
 Maintain a rational perspective

28.  The mental and physical effects of exercise are far
more profound and complex than we once thought
 Regular exercise=neuroplasticity-neurogenesis
 Regular exercise improves your mood, decreases
anxiety, improves sleep, decreases physiological and
psychological effects of stress and raises self-esteem
 Proven antidote to stress and aging
 1 hour of exercise + 2 hours of life expectancy

29. Hippocampus

30.  The term meditation refers to a family of self-
regulation practices that focus on training attention
and awareness in order to bring mental processes
under greater voluntary control and thereby foster
mental well-being and development and/or
specific capacities such as calm, clarity, and
concentration. Walsh & Shapiro, American Psychologist 4/06

31.  Goal is to aim for continuous focus primarily on
one object such as the breath
 “Meditation” is simply focusing on your breath

32.  Clinical observations and initial research suggest that personal
meditation can mediate the costs of professional stress including:
 Burnout
 Depression
 Anxiety
 Job satisfaction
 Efficacy
 Interpersonal relationships
Walsh & Shapiro, American Psychologist 4/06

33.  Personal meditation practice has shown
effectiveness in:
 Reducing stress
 Enhancing empathy
 Improving life satisfaction
 Increasing self-compassion
Walsh & Shapiro, American Psychologist 4/06

34.  A growing body of scientific research supports the
efficacy of a regular yoga practice for stress
reduction/remediation
 Yoga's emphasis on breathing and the
mind/body/spirit connection yields strong
psychological and emotional benefits

35.  A short lived gas that tremendously affects your
body’s function
 Highest levels in the nasal pharynx
 Stimulating NO promotes wakefulness
 Not enough NO promotes aging of the skin
 Helps dilate arteries and enhances blood flow
 Has a calming effect on the nervous system
 Roizen & Ozz 2007

36.  Treating yourself with the same kindness and care
you’d treat a loved one or friend
 Avoid harsh and irrational critiques or negative
generalizations about yourself
 Employing a gentle nonjudgmental approach with
ourselves helps with resilience, stress
management and enhances the ability to bounce
back after struggles
 Self-gratitude Give yourself a fist bump…really!

37.  Compassion Satisfaction
 Burnout
 Compassion Fatigue/Secondary Trauma

38. Emerging research has shown that yoga:
 reduces stress
 improves sleep
 reduces cortisol levels
 lowers blood pressure
 lowers heart rate
 increases personal perception of well-being
 reduces overall anxiety and muscle tension
 increases strength and flexibility

39.  Average: 37 (39 for terps)
 Above 42-all right!
 Below 33-can’t get no satisfaction…..

40.  Average: 22 (20 for terps)
 Above 27: Need to become more cool?
 Below 18: Pretty cool…….

41.  Average 13 (17 for terps)
 Above 17-Are you all right?
 Below 8-For now………

42.  Positive psychological change experienced as a result of
the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances.
 Post-traumatic growth is not simply a return to baseline
from a period of suffering; instead it is an experience of
improvement that for some persons is deeply profound.
Tedeshi, R.G., & Calhoun, L.G. (2004). Posttraumatic
Growth: Conceptual Foundation and Empirical Evidence
 Wherever there is life there is hope. Even in the depth
of despair and the dark night of the soul, there is the
potential for new beginnings and growth.

43.  Debriefing
 Social support
 Minimize novelty
 Increase familiarity
 Avoid fight or flight triggers
 Process grief

44.  Not therapy, psychoeducational, facilitate
recovery, reassurance, normalization of thoughts
and emotions, post-trauma closure, assess any
additional needs of participants
 A debriefing should NEVER include judgment or
operational critiques