By: Yoyo Rita
Ever feel stressed, anxious, or disassociated after a witness interview? Perhaps the witness graphically recounted their experience of trauma as a college student? Or perhaps a high-impact, political case included screenshots with disturbing violent content? As investigators, we may shrug such experiences off without taking pause. While many of us are aware of PTSD and other trauma-related disorders, few workplace investigators consider that they might experience secondhand trauma as a result of dealing with traumatized individuals in various investigation scenarios.
Secondhand trauma, also known as vicarious trauma, is defined as “a process of change resulting from empathetic engagement with trauma survivors.”[1] It is also defined as “a negative reaction to trauma exposure and includes a range of psychosocial symptoms,”[2] including anxiety, depression, cynicism, distractedness, and an inability to focus at work and in our professional lives. In layman’s terms, secondhand trauma can occur when a professional provides services to a traumatized individual. Therefore, it appears clear that workplace investigators are at a high risk for incurring secondhand trauma when dealing with trauma-related cases, such as sexual assault and workplace violence subject matter.
Defining this phenomena when dealing with victims of violence in investigations is a positive first step. But what should we do once we understand that anyone can incur secondhand trauma during the workplace investigations process? There are numerous approaches we can and should take in our self-care regiment to alleviate this collateral mental health impact in the industry. These include:
- Seek out mental health services from a counselor or mental health professional. The best self-care is proactive, meaning that if we already have an established relationship with a mental health professional, we will be able to identify mental disturbances when they emerge, including secondhand trauma in our professional lives.
- Get active. Exercise, even taking a walk to a local park and breathing fresh air, can help to dissipate the ambient stress we experience as workplace investigators dealing with difficult, upsetting subject matter.
- Maintain work-life balance. Though the pace and rigor of our work is inherently difficult, being an active community member, friend, and family member provides us with built-in support when we need to lean on others after emotionally upsetting professional experiences.
- Seek out support from peers and colleagues. Workplace associations like AWI and niche colleague interest groups could be an excellent forum to create coalitions of workplace investigations professionals—to create support groups, have mental health check-ins, or even just to provide words of encouragement and support.
- Reduce the stigma. Anyone can experience secondary trauma. Being open and honest about our experiences will make it easier for our peers to do the same.
[1] https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/your-wellbeing/vicarious-trauma/vicarious-trauma-signs-and-strategies-for-coping
[2] https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/vtt/what-is-vicarious-trauma