The other day I noticed that the ABA published an article called "When Caring Costs You: Lawyers can experience vicarious trauma from work"
Essentially, the idea is that lawyers take on the trauma, or stress, from clients.
"Jan Newman, a psychologist and mindset coach in Charlotte, North Carolina, says that vicarious trauma occurs when a professional experiences the signs and symptoms that mimic post-traumatic stress disorder in connection with traumatic material presented by the client. Newman says these signs and symptoms can include intrusive or persistent negative thoughts, avoidance and withdrawal, hyperarousal and hypervigilance, or sleep disturbance.
Clients experiencing trauma put their lawyers at a higher risk for vicarious trauma, says Jeff Sherr, training director for the National Association for Public Defense"
I think Academic Support Professionals experience a similar phenomenon. We are often take on the stress and trauma of our students. Especially this time of year: students are getting back grades, and if they aren't happy, trying to figure out what went wrong. This can lead to some difficult discussions about family life, mental health issues, and general trauma that the student might have faced.
The article suggests setting boundaries. While setting some boundaries can be helpful, the nature of counseling students means that sometimes boundaries aren't as clear as we'd always like.
It's for this reason that I prefer the article's suggestion of practicing self care and normalizing discussion. I noticed today while counseling a student through ways to deal with anxiety and stress that I have great tools for students, so I know what I should do, but actually using those tools can be more difficult.
This is also why I love this community. I think we are great at supporting one another, normalizing discussion, and encouraging each other to take time out for ourselves.
So let me echo Marsha's sentiments from earlier this week, and tip my hat to my fellow asp-ish people. Consider this a nudge, and permission, to exercise the very important self care that you might need this time of year.
(Melissa Hale)
Thank you for this blog post. We absolutely take on our student stressors, and your reminder that we must practice self-care is timely, important, and necessary.