How do students individually negotiate their safety issues within their peer support group?

Individual and Group Self-Care

 

The concepts of compassion fatigue, secondary traumatisation and vicarious traumatisation vary slightly in causation and definition but all can result in a worker developing trauma like symptoms as a result of hearing the shocking stories of their client’s experiences of disasters, abuse and torture.

 

Wastell (2005) argues that the re-telling of horrific events and experiences by survivors of traumatic events is a powerful experience for any therapist (and worker).  Staying empathically attuned can be extremely difficult.  Workers can invoke (voluntarily or not) defenses in order to contain and bind their own distress.  Many workers show signs such as:

 

• Nightmares and other somatic disorders
• Hyper-vigilance
• Experience flashbacks of sessions/conversations
• Avoid emotions in themselves and others
• Become aggressive and display more anger generally; and
• Develop increasing cynicism
• Experience feelings of helplessness and ineffectiveness.

 

There are a number of strategies such as critical incident debriefing, regular supervision and consultation that are used by workers to manage the effects of hearing traumatic stories and which are aimed at self-care.  In this course, we are going to concentrate on two strategies to manage any potential secondary traumatisation from exposure to course materials:

 

1. Peer support groups – all students have been allocated randomly to a peer support group. Random allocation is the closest match to a workplace peer support group.  These groups will meet for 10 minutes (approx.) at the beginning of each session and for 10 minutes at the end of each week to discuss any unresolved issues/ distress.  Equally, these groups will also be able to focus on client’s courage and resilience.

 

2. Individual and Group Self Care Contracts

 

 

 

Individual and Peer Self Care Contract

 

1. Establishing and Maintaining Group Rules

• confidentiality
• use of language/ use of censorship
• respect for all group members
• encouraging participation and open discussion
• contact between peer group members
• commitment to ongoing evaluation of group needs
• extent and management of self-disclosure

 

 

2. Student’s Self Care Strategies

• How do students individually negotiate their safety issues within their peer support group?
• How does this small group respond to an individual’s discomfort and/or distress?
• How openly do we acknowledge and discuss individual distress in the large group?
• What strategies can be used by individual students to attend to their own spiritual, physical and emotional needs?

 

 

3. Coordinator’s Responsibilities

• When and how do they intervene?
• Responsibility for referral
• What kind of de-briefing works for the larger group?

 

 

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Peer Group Self-Care Contract:……………………………………………………………………………………………..

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