Utilizing Self-care Practices to Combat Vicarious Trauma in Criminal Justice Practitioners

• In Event: Providing Mental Health Services in the Correctional system

Abstract

Practitioners and scholars working in the criminal justice field and related scholarship often encounter persons and communities experiencing trauma. Engaging trauma in the classroom further exposes students to impactful assignments and activities. Resultantly, practitioners, scholars, and students may experience vicarious or secondary trauma. Vicarious trauma occurs after one is exposed to another person or group’s experience of trauma.

As faculty, practitioners and scholars in this field, we may recognize the impacts of vicarious trauma in our students, colleagues and selves. Traumatic experiences are embodied, meaning we hold the impacts in our physical bodies, having a direct influence on health and wellbeing. If unaddressed, exposure to trauma can lead to burnout and impact wellness. This presentation will explore self-care as a tool for addressing vicarious trauma and discuss the benefit of embodied practices for promoting resilience. Benefits of self-care for criminal justice practitioners and scholars will be discussed and preliminary data on utilization presented. With a focus on cultural competency and conscious relationship, embodied self-care can be a tool bridging both survivors and practitioners in the promotion of wellbeing and fostering the potential for posttraumatic growth. Training a new generation of scholars and practitioners requires innovative approaches to trauma-informed care.

Author

• Danielle Rousseau, Boston University