Vicarious Trauma & Self-Care Excersizes
Vicarious Trauma
Vicarious trauma is the emotional and physical impact of repeated exposure to others’ trauma. It often affects people in helping professions—such as social workers, first responders, and healthcare providers—who hear and witness traumatic stories regularly.
Signs of vicarious trauma include:
Avoidance or withdrawal from clients or work.
Low motivation or loss of enthusiasm.
Mood swings, depression, or irritability.
Poor communication with colleagues.
Increased substance use or unhealthy coping strategies.
Trouble sleeping or recurring disturbing dreams.
Preventing Vicarious Trauma
Monitor your own emotional state and stress levels.
Set healthy boundaries between work and personal life.
Limit overexposure to triggering content when possible.
Seek supervision, debriefing, or peer support.
Engage in activities that restore joy and balance.
Reducing Your Risk of Trauma Symptoms
Steps to Take:
Attend to Your Needs – Notice your emotional state and how you respond to trauma exposure. Take breaks or time off when you start to struggle.
Maintain a Sleep Schedule – Good rest makes it easier to care for yourself.
Set Strong Boundaries – Empathy is valuable in helping roles, but protect your personal time by separating work from home life.
Seek Support – Engage your social circle, and consider therapy if needed.
Have a Self-Care Routine – Make time for activities you enjoy outside of work to help prevent vicarious trauma.
Self Care
Self-care means caring for yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It is the foundation of well-being and compassion for others. Without it, we can feel drained and unable to give fully.
Practicing self-care and self-compassion supports personal growth, improves relationships, and increases your capacity to contribute positively to the world.
Tips for Self-Care
Plan and Organize – Schedule activities like smudging, drumming, walking, yoga, or meditation.
Schedule Self-Care Leave – Take mental health days to rest and recharge.
Set Boundaries – Limit phone calls, and only check work emails during work hours.
Eat Right & Sleep Well – Maintain balanced meals and adequate rest.
Move Your Body – Exercise regularly to boost serotonin and improve mood.
Relax Your Mind – Enjoy coffee, dinner, walks, or chats with friends and family.
Grounding Techniques
Grounding helps bring you back to the present moment when feeling overwhelmed:
Two Types:
Sensory Awareness – Focus on physical sensations. Examples:
Look around and notice details in your surroundings.
Hold a comforting object (pillow, stuffed animal).
Place a cold cloth on your face.
Listen to soothing music.
Feel your feet on the ground.
Cognitive Awareness – Use mental focus to orient yourself. Examples:
Ask: Where am I? What’s the date? What season is it? How old am I?
Use the 5-4-3-2-1 method: Name 5 things you see, 4 you feel, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, and 1 you taste.
Choose a category (colours, shapes) and name all you can find.
Belly Breathing Exercise
Why: Encourages deep, slow breathing for relaxation.
Sit comfortably with one hand on your chest, the other on your stomach.
Notice which hand moves—belly breathing means your lower hand moves more.
Relax your abdominal muscles to allow deeper breaths.
Practice 1 minute, three times a day, or whenever stressed.Grounding helps bring you back to the present moment when feeling overwhelmed:
Take a S.T.O.P. Stress Pause
S – Stand still, breathe deeply, and slow down.
T – Tune in to your body, notice areas of tension, and release them.
O – Observe your surroundings; find pleasant details you haven’t noticed before.
P – Possibility: Recognize you can choose a new, positive response.
Palm the Present Moment Exercise
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Prepare Your Body
Sit in a comfortable chair.
Take two or three slow, calming breaths.
2. Position Your Hands
Raise your hands to heart level, palms facing one another, about a foot apart.
Notice any tension in your arms or hands as you hold them in the air.
3. Sense the Energy
Slowly bring your hands closer until you feel the slightest sensation—energy, pressure, heat, or warmth—between them.
Pause here and notice: Is the sensation constant or changing moment to moment?
4. Connect Your Fingertips
Bring your fingertips together very lightly—like the most delicate touch.
Imagine the molecules in your right fingertips dancing with those in your left. You might picture them doing the foxtrot, samba, tango, waltz, or even the jitterbug.
5. Join Your Palms
Continue moving your hands together until your palms lightly touch.
Notice your fingers straightening and the heat building between your palms.
Pause for 5–10 seconds in silent appreciation for your body as a precious gift.
6. Tense and Release
Keeping palms together, raise elbows out to the sides.
Press palms together with about 10% of your strength.
Increase to about 20%, only if it feels comfortable and pain-free.
Notice where the tension spreads—wrists, elbows, shoulders, back, or chest.
After 5 seconds, release completely. Let your shoulders and elbows relax, and enjoy the release of tightness.
7. Open and Let Go
Slowly open your palms, like a flower blooming in the morning sun.
Feel the coolness as heat dissipates.
Allow gravity to lower your hands gently, like leaves falling from a tree, until they rest on your lap or legs.
Take a deep breath in, and as you exhale, imagine all remaining stress flowing down your legs and out through your feet into the earth, where it can be recycled.
8. Conclude in Gratitude
If you wish, sit quietly for a few moments in appreciation for your body—your constant companion that follows your commands and carries your consciousness as you work toward your life goals.
Purpose:
Use this grounding meditation whenever you feel anxious, worried, overwhelmed, stuck in negative thoughts, or uncertain about the future—especially during times of transition. The first time you try it, move through the process slowly. Once familiar, you can complete it in about one minute.