| Summary: | Practitioner self-care is becoming recognized as a fundamental requisite of effective
practice Vtrithin the field of child sexual abuse intervention. In this context, it is only recentiy that
the impact of working with survivors of trauma (including child sexual abuse), has been
acknowledged and explored. However, social services responding to the needs of sexual abuse
survivors have been structured in ways which negate the importance of practitioner self-care.
Empirically based information from this and other studies which explore the impact on
practitioners of working with trauma survivors will promote effective practice through the
identification of and response to vicarious trauma. This information is also essential to the
education of social work practitioners, the practice and delivery of social work services, and most
importantly, to the clients we serve.
My qualitative study used a focus group to examine the experiences of five agency-based,
female counsellors working with adult survivors of child sexual abuse. The range of their
experiences was explored to determine the specific implications, for women, of working with
survivor populations.
The findings demonstrate support for McCann and Pearlman's (1990) model of vicarious
traumatization. All of the women reported negative and positive changes in their lives resulting
from the work. Four major themes of experience emerged in the women's descriptions of the ways
they have been impacted: heightened self awareness, challenges and changes in world view,
dis/connection with others, and finding balance. === Arts, Faculty of === Social Work, School of === Graduate
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