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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Secondary or Vicarious Trauma?
Secondary or Vicarious Trauma refers to the negative affects a person can experience from empathic engagement with people who experience primary trauma, combined with a commitment or responsibility to help them. This could include professionals such as Social Workers, Doctors, Teachers, Vets, Emergency Responders, Criminal, Family or Immigration Lawyers, people working in Funeral Services, and Housing Officers, to name a few.
What is the difference between Primary and Secondary Trauma?
Primary Trauma refers to the effects of experiencing trauma directly, e.g. a person injured in a traffic incident. Secondary or Vicarious Trauma refers to the effects that can be experienced by witnessing another person's trauma or distress, e.g. an Emergency Responder at the scene of the incident.
What is Burnout?
For diagnostic purposes, "Burnout" is defined in the World Health Organisation's ICD-11 (Code QD85), as "...a syndrome...resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by 3 dimensions, 1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 2. increased mental distance from one's job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and 3. a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life. The definition also excludes Adjustment Disorder, Disorders specifically associated with Stress, Anxiety or Fear related disorders, and Mood Disorders."
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