Working closely with people who have experienced trauma can be both meaningful and emotionally intense. When we listen with empathy and hold space for someone else’s pain, we often absorb small fragments of their stories. Over time this can lead to vicarious trauma, which is a natural response to compassionate work.
This article offers a gentle and research informed guide to recognising vicarious trauma, understanding where it comes from, and learning how to care for yourself while caring for others.
Vicarious trauma is the emotional and psychological effect of being exposed to another person’s trauma, usually through repeated contact or empathetic engagement. It does not require direct exposure to traumatic events. Instead it arises from listening to distressing material, supporting people in crisis, or working with traumatic content over time.
This experience is common in roles such as counselling, social work, healthcare, emergency services, education, victim support and safeguarding. Vicarious trauma can gradually shift how a person views themselves, others and the world, influencing their sense of trust, safety and hope.
It is also important to distinguish vicarious trauma from burnout. Burnout is the result of prolonged workplace stress. Vicarious trauma is directly linked to absorbing traumatic narratives or emotional material.
Vicarious trauma appears in emotional, physical, cognitive, behavioural and social patterns. These signs may develop gradually or appear more suddenly.
Feelings of sadness, anger, fear or hopelessness may linger beyond the working day. Emotional exhaustion or numbness can appear along with guilt or shame linked to the distress of those you support. These emotional shifts are frequently reported among trauma exposed professionals.
Sleep difficulties, headaches, digestive discomfort and fatigue are common. The body often mirrors the emotional load carried by the mind and these physiological responses reflect that connection.
Intrusive images or thoughts, difficulty concentrating, rumination and changes in worldview often signal the cognitive strain associated with vicarious trauma. These patterns reflect the brain struggling to process the accumulated emotional weight of others’ experiences.
People may withdraw socially, become irritable more easily, struggle with boundaries or over identify with the people they support. Others may avoid certain tasks to protect themselves emotionally.
Changes in connection with family and friends are frequent, including irritability, increased isolation, difficulty trusting others or feeling misunderstood. Conversely, it can lead to an avoidance of being alone. Essentially a more extreme response to socialisation than usual.
Some professional settings carry a higher emotional load. These include environments where individuals regularly hear detailed trauma narratives, view distressing images or support people in acute distress. Situations where staff lack processing time between emotionally intense interactions also increase vulnerability.
Preparation has a protective function. Emotional readiness lowers vulnerability and helps you feel grounded before engaging in challenging situations.
Helpful preparation techniques include taking a moment to check in with your own emotions, evaluating how intense the interaction or task may be, and acknowledging any personal stress or vulnerability you may be carrying.
Protective routines act like emotional anchors. They help you regulate feelings, process difficult material and release what is not yours to hold.
A short moment of reflection before beginning emotionally demanding work can help you understand your own internal state. After a challenging task, a brief period of grounding or structured reflection helps close the emotional loop and encourages emotional separation.
Changing into comfortable clothing or moving into a different space after work helps your nervous system recognise that the emotionally intense part of the day has ended.
Replacing intrusive imagery with calming mental pictures, focusing on sensory grounding or practising supportive breathing techniques are all useful.
If distressing thoughts or images arise, gently bring yourself back to the present by connecting with your senses. Notice what is around you and take in what you can see, hear or smell. This helps your mind return to safety rather than staying with the difficult memory.
It can also help to pay attention to how your thoughts influence your behaviour. For example, after supporting a case involving a child injured on a road, you may find yourself replaying the scene and becoming more cautious around roads or children. Although understandable, this behaviour can strengthen the fear.
Try to pause this pattern. Notice the thought, soften the instinct to act on it and gently question the story your mind is creating. Fear grows through repetition; each time we revisit the same thought or respond to it, it is like adding another thread to a piece of string. Over time that string becomes a rope. By changing the thought and easing the behaviour that follows it, the rope begins to loosen.
Regularly checking in with your emotional and physical state helps you identify when you are approaching emotional overload.
Understanding how thoughts influence feelings and behaviour can reduce unhelpful rumination and anxiety.
A helpful way to understand this cycle is to look at how thoughts and behaviours feed each other. For example, if you have the thought that someone might snatch your bag, you may begin to hold your bag tightly, scan your surroundings and look for danger. Your body then reacts with a faster heart rate and a heightened sense of threat, which keeps the fear alive.
By working with both the thought and the behaviour, you can interrupt this loop. When the thought appears, gently question it and replace it with a more balanced perspective. At the same time, avoid responding with protective behaviours such as clutching your bag or constantly checking your environment, as these reinforce the fear.
With consistent practice, the physical fear response reduces and the cycle begins to lose its strength.
Vicarious trauma responds positively to early attention and gentle self support.
Talking things through reduces emotional load and helps you feel less alone.
Keep a Diary
Journaling can help you recognise patterns and triggers.
Understanding why certain situations impact you more than others helps you separate your own emotional history from the emotions you absorb.
These techniques allow you to shift distressing or unfinished narratives your mind may be holding on to.
Art making, music or movement can help release stored emotional tension.
Regular supervision offers structured support and helps you process challenging experiences while learning healthier emotional strategies. Supervision is not an assessment of your performance, and it is not a method of monitoring you. Instead it is a supportive space that allows you to speak openly, reflect safely and explore your experiences with someone who understands.
Education about vicarious trauma increases self-awareness and helps develop skills and opportunity to strengthen emotional resilience through building skills in preparation.
Team debriefs and supportive workplace cultures help individuals avoid emotional isolation.
Workplaces that acknowledge trauma exposure and offer recovery time significantly reduce vicarious trauma risk.
You can refer yourself or someone else (with their consent) by completing our professional referral form, calling 01443 853125, or emailing [email protected]. We’ll ask for brief details about the reason for the referral and some basic contact information. Before we proceed, we will always request verbal consent from the person being referred.
After we receive your referral, a member of our team will contact you using your preferred communication method. We’ll then arrange a suitable time for a call—usually between 9am and 5pm—and we understand that professionals often have limited availability, so we’ll do our best to accommodate your schedule. During the initial call, we’ll introduce ourselves and explain what the conversation will cover, so you know what to expect. We’ll ask for a little more information about the reason for your referral and discuss your wellbeing to help us identify the most appropriate support and match you with one of our therapists.
Vicarious trauma is not a sign of weakness. It is a reflection of your compassion and humanity. You deserve understanding, support and care as you continue doing meaningful and emotionally significant work.
2wish Head Office
Unit 3, Sovereign Court
Sterling Drive
Llantrisant
Rhondda-Cynon-Taff
CF72 8YX
