| Summary: | The aims of this research are to examine the secondary traumatisation experience of clergy when caring for those who have undergone trauma and crisis within their daily pastoral ministry and to explore the influence of Emotional Intelligence within this experience. Existing examinations of impact upon clergy have focused on clergy experiences during major trauma events or when providing specific skills such as counselling. Additionally there has been little exploration of the influence of Emotional Intelligence within the secondary traumatisation experience or the development of an understanding of its value as a potential personal resilience factor. This study seeks to address both these gaps through examining the secondary traumatisation experience of Church of Ireland clergy within their daily pastoral ministry and through exploring the potential influence of Emotional Intelligence upon this experience. The study undertook a two stage mixed methods approach. Participants at Stage One were 226 serving clergy who responded to a postal data pack consisting of one validated instrument to measure secondary traumatic stress, burnout and compassion satisfaction and one to measure Emotional Intelligence. Participants also completed a customised questionnaire pertaining to demographics, training, support and vicarious exposure to trauma. Stage Two participants consisted of 16 serving clergy who took part in one-to-one interviews, which explored the complexities and sensitivities of the experience as indicated by Stage One analysis. These participants also completed an instrument to assess cognitive disruptions associated with the concept of vicarious traumatisation. Results indicted that secondary impact is a significant issue for the Church of Ireland and that the anomalies of the clergy role make the experience of working with trauma an extremely complex one. Emotional Intelligence appears to have a positive influence on the recognition and management of the experience and potentially in moderating severe cognitive disruptions.
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