When your work involves caring for others or bearing witness to suffering, it leaves a mark. Whether you are a therapist listening to painful stories, a family caregiver tending to a loved one, or a professional like a nurse, teacher, social worker, first responder, or law enforcement officer, the emotional weight of what you carry can quietly build over time.
This experience is called vicarious trauma, sometimes known as secondary traumatic stress. Unlike burnout, which comes from general work-related stress, vicarious trauma stems from empathetic engagement with others’ trauma. It’s common among those who regularly show up for people in distress.
What Is Vicarious Trauma?
Vicarious trauma, or VT, was first identified in the 1990s by researchers McCann and Pearlman. It describes how repeated exposure to others’ trauma, primarily through empathy and emotional connection, can slowly shift a person’s inner world.
VT isn’t the same as burnout or compassion fatigue, although they can overlap. It refers to changes in how you think and feel about safety, trust, control, and intimacy after working closely with trauma survivors (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995).
People in many professions are at risk, including therapists, social workers, doctors, nurses, teachers, clergy, emergency dispatchers, first responders, and law enforcement officers. Even highly trained professionals can be affected. In fact, research suggests that those who are deeply empathetic may be more vulnerable to VT (Figley, 1995).
Signs of Vicarious Trauma
The signs of VT can be subtle at first but may grow over time. Some mirror symptoms of post-traumatic stress, while others appear as gradual shifts in mood, thinking, or worldview.
Common symptoms include emotional numbness or feeling disconnected, intrusive thoughts about others’ experiences, chronic anxiety, or irritability. You may notice difficulty sleeping, recurring nightmares, or an increased sense of hopelessness or helplessness. Over time, you might find it harder to enjoy things you once loved or to connect with others in meaningful ways. VT can also change your core beliefs about safety, control, and trust in yourself or others.
If left unaddressed, VT can affect professional effectiveness, personal relationships, and physical health. Brain research has shown that chronic stress from caregiving and helping roles can change the way the amygdala and hippocampus, areas tied to memory and emotional regulation—function (Kim et al., 2015).
Tools for Recovery and Resilience
Recovering from vicarious trauma requires more than just taking a break or pushing through. It’s about actively tending to your nervous system, reclaiming meaning, and reconnecting with your own life.
Here are research-backed tools that can help.
Name It to Tame It
One of the first steps toward healing is recognizing and naming what you’re experiencing. Research on “affect labeling” shows that naming difficult emotions can help calm the brain’s fear center and regulate stress (Lieberman et al., 2007).
Talking to a trusted colleague, supervisor, friend, or therapist can help you process what you’re feeling. If you’d like support from a therapist who understands vicarious trauma, we can help connect you with someone who can help.
Develop a Somatic Hygiene Practice
Trauma impacts the body as much as the mind. Regular somatic (body-based) practices can help regulate your nervous system and create a sense of safety.
Here are some practices to try:
- Box breathing: Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4.
- Progressive muscle relaxation: Tense and release muscle groups to release tension.
- Grounding exercises: Notice five things you can see, feel, hear, or smell around you.
- Movement practices: Gentle yoga, tai chi, or dance can reduce trauma symptoms, according to trauma research (van der Kolk, 2014).
Even short practices done consistently can make a difference.
Build Reflective and Relational Spaces
You don’t have to process this alone. Supervision, peer support groups, and reflective practice groups can offer safe spaces to share your experiences without judgment.
Studies show that therapists and helping professionals who regularly participate in reflective supervision or consultation report lower levels of vicarious trauma (Killian, 2008). These spaces can also remind you that you’re not the only one carrying this weight.
Replenish the Self
Make time for activities unrelated to your caregiving or professional role. These could be creative hobbies like painting, music, or writing, time outdoors, or playful activities that help you feel fully present.
The “broaden-and-build” theory of positive emotions shows that cultivating moments of joy, awe, or gratitude expands your capacity to cope and build resilience over time (Fredrickson, 2001).
These activities aren’t frivolous. They’re essential for restoring your sense of self outside of the work you do.
Revisit and Revise Your Meaning-Making
Vicarious trauma can shake your sense of purpose, especially when your work feels heavy or when change feels out of reach.
It’s helpful to reflect on why you chose this work in the first place or what continues to feel meaningful about it now. Research shows that revisiting personal meaning and values can help reduce distress and support healing (Park, 2010).
Even in difficult work, reconnecting to your “why” can help you move forward with more clarity and peace.
Create Boundaries Between Work and Life
While it’s easier said than done, setting boundaries between your professional and personal life is vital for long-term wellbeing.
You might try simple rituals that signal a shift at the end of your workday, such as changing clothes, taking a walk, listening to music, or writing in a journal. These small acts can help your brain and body understand it’s time to transition out of work mode.
Consistency is key. Over time, these rituals help build a stronger sense of separation between caregiving and personal space.
You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup
Experiencing vicarious trauma isn’t a sign of weakness or failure. It’s a human response to show up for others in their most challenging moments.
You deserve care, support, and healing just as much as anyone else. Recovery isn’t something you need to tackle alone, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
By tending to your nervous system, connecting with others who understand, and rediscovering what matters to you, you can continue doing your work with compassion, without losing yourself in the process.
If you’re ready to explore support for vicarious trauma, we’re here to help. Connect with a therapist today who understands the unique challenges of caregiving and helping work.
Citations:
- Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized.
- Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist.
- Killian, K. D. (2008). Helping till it hurts? A multimethod study of compassion fatigue, burnout, and self-care in clinicians working with trauma survivors.
- Kim, M. J., & Whalen, P. J. (2009). The structural integrity of an amygdala–prefrontal pathway predicts trait anxiety.
- Lieberman, M. D. et al. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity. Psychological Science.
- Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events.
- Pearlman, L. A., & Saakvitne, K. W. (1995). Trauma and the therapist: Countertransference and vicarious traumatization in psychotherapy with incest survivors.
- van der Kolk, B. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma.