{"id":138,"date":"2019-03-05T20:44:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T20:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/?p=138"},"modified":"2024-10-01T17:56:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T17:56:48","slug":"secondary-trauma-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/secondary-trauma-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Secondary Trauma Stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

PDF version for download:\u00a0<\/em>15 Secondary Trauma Stress<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>15a Citations for Secondary Trauma Stress\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/a>ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score_3-2012<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Secondary Trauma Stress<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our classrooms are not the idyllic examples we might have envisioned when we considered becoming teachers:\u00a0 Happy students eagerly working on the amazing activities we provide for them or listening attentively to our fascinating presentations.\u00a0 We get students who have experienced abuse, homelessness, poverty, gang violence, addiction, and more.\u00a0 They might share some of that with us, and that helps us understand why they are having problems concentrating, getting their work done, coming to class, or behaving well.<\/p>\n

Hearing the trauma can leave us with an emotional weight, called secondary trauma stress.\u00a0 The symptoms include: \u201canger, cynicism, anxiousness, avoidance, chronic exhaustion, disconnection, fear, guilt, hopelessness, hypervigilance, inability to listen, loss of creativity, poor boundaries, poor self-care, and sleeplessness.\u201d\u00a0 (edutopia secondary traumatic stress)<\/p>\n

One way you can assess yourself and your feelings is by taking the Professional Quality of Life survey.\u00a0 It measures \u201cCompassion Satisfaction and Compassion Fatigue.\u201d\u00a0 There is a copy of the survey at the end of this section, or you can visit their website and download the PDF.\u00a0 (proqol pdf)<\/p>\n

Here are some techniques to use as part of your self-care, especially if you are experiencing secondary trauma stress:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Connect with quality friends: <\/strong>Every Thursday morning at 5:30, I show up in a music teacher\u2019s driveway for a 50-minute \u201cwalk & talk.\u201d Eddie and I always discuss teaching problems. Besides being a good listener, my friend reminds me that my feelings matter, and that I\u2019m enough. Regardless of my difficulties, I end the walk feeling emotionally recharged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Write it out:<\/strong>Teaching requires mental and emotional dexterity. When one is weakened, the other is compromised. But writing can help. According to\u00a0one study<\/a>, expressive writing (describing feelings) \u201c\u2018offloads\u2019 worries from working memory, therefore relieving the distracting effects of worry on cognition.\u201d Set a timer for eight minutes and let it all out on paper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Use drive time for self-talk: <\/strong>If I\u2019m feeling out of sorts while driving to work, I talk about my concerns aloud and in the third person. For example: \u201cTodd is feeling raw and fragile because of the crying jag that X had yesterday. He\u2019ll be OK today if he doesn\u2019t get overpowered by X\u2019s feelings.\u201d This\u00a0emotional distancing<\/a>, according to research on third-person self-talk, boosts rationality and improves people\u2019s \u201cability to control their thoughts, feelings, and behavior under stress.\u201d After that, I put Aloe Blacc\u2019s \u201cThe Man\u201d on full blast and float into my classroom.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Avoid toxic colleagues: <\/strong>Research shows <\/a>that toxic co-workers 1) are selfish, 2) display overconfidence, and 3) are found to declare \u201cemphatically that the rules should always be followed no matter what.\u201d If a toxic co-worker hangs out in the break room, eat elsewhere with colleagues who smile with their eyes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    Do something tangible: <\/strong>To avoid marinating in diminished compassion, recharge by completing a small task\u2014something specific and concrete. Run on an elliptical machine for 30 minutes or send a card to a friend. Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer, authors of\u00a0The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work<\/a>,\u00a0describe how small victories promote a more positive inner life, which \u201calso leads people to do better work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n

  6. \n

    Don\u2019t suppress painful feelings: <\/strong>When I\u2019m worried about a student, I remember that I don\u2019t have to be perfect and that there are weeks left to make a difference. \u201cMastering the ability to\u00a0reframe problems <\/a>is an important tool for increasing your imagination because it unlocks a vast array of solutions.\u201d A good psychotherapist can help you reframe issues, boost your emotional resilience, and enhance your classroom effectiveness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Finally, don\u2019t forget the most important thing. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say, \u2018It\u2019s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem,\u2019\u201d said Fred Rogers. \u201cThen there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.\u201d Don\u2019t forget who you are.<\/p>\n

    (edutopia secondary traumatic stress)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Cited web sites for \u201cSecondary Trauma Stress\u201d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Format:<\/p>\n

    reference name in text
    \nlink
    \naccess date<\/p>\n

    edutopia secondary traumatic stress
    \n    https:\/\/www.edutopia.org\/article\/are-you-risk-secondary-traumatic-stress<\/a>
    \n16-Jan-18<\/p>\n

    proqol pdf
    \nhttp:\/\/proqol.org\/uploads\/ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score_3-2012.pdf
    \n23-Apr-18<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    PDF version for download:\u00a015 Secondary Trauma Stress \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 15a Citations for Secondary Trauma Stress\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ProQOL_5_English_Self-Score_3-2012 Secondary Trauma Stress Our classrooms are not the idyllic examples we might have envisioned when we considered becoming teachers:\u00a0 Happy students eagerly working on the amazing activities we provide for them or listening attentively to our fascinating presentations.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3,19],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-classroom-management","tag-secondary-trauma-stress"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":401,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions\/401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/tjohnston2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}