Vicarious trauma and burnout: the role of self-compassion

Background: Psychologists are frequently exposed to distressing trauma stories which may increase the likelihood of experiencing vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma can cause changes in core beliefs and cognitive schemas, ultimately changing an individual’s view of self, others and the world.Objective: The current study aims to determine the extent of vicarious trauma and burnout psychologists in the United Kingdom experience, whether they are associated with each other, and to understand their relationship with self-compassion.Method: Practitioner psychologists were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey if they had been exposed to clients’ trauma stories through their work. The survey explored psychologists’ personal and workplace characteristics and assessed vicarious trauma, burnout and self-compassion.Results: Two hundred and fifty-five participants completed the survey and were included in data analysis. Psychologists experienced moderate levels of vicarious trauma. High vicarious trauma scores were associated with higher levels of personal, work and client-related burnout. Higher levels of vicarious trauma and burnout were also associated with lower self-compassion scores. Self-compassion did not significantly moderate the relationship between vicarious trauma and burnout. However, a sensitivity analysis suggests self-kindness may weaken the association between vicarious trauma and burnout, but the effect size is small.Conclusions: The findings from the present study highlight the importance of screening psychologists for vicarious trauma and burnout. As higher self-compassion was significantly associated with lower vicarious trauma and burnout, compassion focused approaches may be beneficial to reduce negative consequences associated with exposure to distressing trauma content disclosed by clients.