Research brief: vicarious trauma and secondary stress in therapeutic residential care

The negative impacts of vicarious trauma extend to high staff turnover, which further exacerbates the sense of instability and having a lack of ‘trusting relationships’ experienced by the young people in care (Strolin-Goltzman et al 2010). This brief is focused on what is known about the factors that both worsen and reduce the risk of vicarious trauma and like conditions for those in the child welfare field. It has a particular focus on self-care strategies.