Preventing Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue: Thriving in the Trenches

Session Description: Clinicians who treat addiction and trauma hear their clients' hardest stories every day, and the cost builds slowly: irritability, detachment, fatigue, cynicism, and sometimes their own compulsive behaviors. Dr. Crosby's doctoral research with therapists who treat survivors of human trafficking found that providers noticed these signs but explained them away as part of the job, and that this normalization allowed symptoms to deepen. This interactive workshop helps experienced clinicians and supervisors recognize vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue in themselves and their teams before it becomes burnout. Participants will complete and score the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL 5) to measure their own compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Using a guided workbook, they will identify their personal warning signs and write a prevention plan. The session also covers what organizations can do, drawing on current research on supervision, peer support, caseload balance, and workplace culture.