Those on the front lines of the Catholic Church (priests, religious, and people working or volunteering in ministry) get to be with people at the best and worst moments of their lives.
In one day, we may attend a wedding or a Baptism and celebrate the beauty of those sacraments, and then go to console a grieving widow, parent, or child, or sit with someone in the midst of a traumatic experience.
In the course of our ministry, we also develop deep relationships with people, and in the safety of these relationships, people may disclose stories of trauma to us.
This reality is quite the privilege. Part of the beauty of the Catholic Church is that we can be with people on the roller coaster of life and show God’s love and grace in each moment.
But when we hear about trauma that people have faced or are facing, the reality is that we can be deeply impacted by what we hear, and we can even develop secondary traumatic stress.
In this article, we will discuss the definition of secondary traumatic stress, its symptoms, and ways that we can prevent it and find healing from it, so that as we walk with people, we can be at our best.
What is secondary traumatic stress?
The idea of secondary traumatic stress comes from research on how those who work as therapists with trauma survivors can be impacted by what they hear. The reality is that it can develop in anyone walking alongside those who have faced trauma.
Secondary traumatic stress develops when we are indirectly exposed to someone else’s trauma through their telling of their story, and hearing this story can cause similar symptoms as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (1, 2).
As a reminder, PTSD includes four types of symptoms.
First, there are reexperiencing symptoms, which means that being exposed to things that remind the person of their trauma, such as someone who looks like the perpetrator or certain sights, smells, or sounds, can cause severe anxiety. They may also have intrusive thoughts about the trauma or sleep disturbances.
All of this can then lead to a second cluster of symptoms, which is avoidance, or things someone might do to bring relief from the anxiety, such as avoiding certain things.
Third, a person may experience negative changes in mood, such as hopelessness and feelings of detachment from others, and in thinking, such as problems with memory.
Additionally, PTSD can change a person’s physical and emotional reactions to things, so a person may be frightened more easily, have trouble sleeping or concentrating, have angry outbursts, and feel always on guard (3).
Just as these symptoms can develop from direct exposure to trauma, they can also develop when we walk beside people who have experienced trauma and hear about their experience.
Similar, but Different, Terms
When you hear about secondary traumatic stress, it’s essential to differentiate it from other similar terms that can also result from hearing about others’ trauma (1)
- Burnout: Burnout is characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion resulting from work and personal stress. It can also involve cynicism, low energy, difficulty engaging at work, and difficulty seeing meaning in one’s work. Burnout often occurs alongside secondary traumatic stress, but the same things do not cause it.
- Compassion Fatigue: This refers to the emotional strain caused by working with people with trauma, chronic illness, etc. Once again, this can co-occur with secondary traumatic stress, but some people may have compassion fatigue without secondary traumatic stress.
- Vicarious Trauma: This term refers to how people may change in their thoughts, emotions, relationships with others, and behavior as a result of hearing about other people’s trauma. This can be a broader umbrella term that secondary traumatic stress falls under.
Secondary traumatic stress and its related terms are essential to know about and guard against as you work or volunteer in ministry. When we know about the possibility of secondary traumatic stress, we can guard against it, so it doesn’t harm our ability to minister or other areas of our lives.
So, how can we prevent it and find healing if we have developed it?
How to Prevent Secondary Traumatic Stress
When we have experienced trauma ourselves and face adverse impacts from it, we are far more likely to experience secondary traumatic stress (2). So, one thing to do to prevent secondary traumatic stress is to pursue your own healing journey. You can find Catholic resources for your own healing journey here.
A second thing to do is to regularly ask yourself if you identify with any of the above symptoms of secondary traumatic stress. If you experience symptoms, seek professional help as soon as possible. The healing resources linked above can be helpful here as well.
Finally, growing in resilience can help to reduce our odds of developing secondary traumatic stress (4). Resilience is the ability to withstand stress and heal after trauma (5).
Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we believe that five categories of habits help to improve resilience. They are:
- Mental Health: Knowing the truth and uprooting the lies you have come to believe
- Physical Health: Caring for your body and good relationships with others
- Spiritual Health: Prayer and the Sacraments
- Virtue: Intentionally pursuing growth in virtue and regular fasting
- Vocation: Regularly investing in the calling(s) God has for you
Regularly carving out time to work on each of these areas will help you to grow in resilience and prevent secondary traumatic stress. You can learn more here.
Conclusion
As those working or volunteering in ministry, we have the privilege of walking with people in their worst moments. While this is beautiful, we can also be negatively impacted by what we hear. We must take steps to prevent these impacts through pursuing our own healing and growth in resilience.