Domestic Violence Shelters: Exploring Secondary Traumatic Stress of Female Counsellors

Abstract

Counsellors in domestic violence (DV) shelters have long reported extraordinary stressors, fear for their clients’ safety, and fear for their own safety [1-7]. DV counsellors in shelter settings are often tasked with pervasive trauma work after a violent episode in their clients’ lives. The intake for a new DV resident often includes the debriefing of life-threatening violence after years of domestic violence. However, little is known about the effects of secondary trauma on the counsellors in shelter work [4]. With intense and chronic levels of trauma exposure, social work does know that this is a particularly vulnerable cohort of counsellors who may themselves; suffer from compassion fatigue, burnout and secondary trauma [5].