the legal aid society juvenile rights practice training materials © the legal aid society 2011 all...

THE LEGAL AID SOCIETYJUVENILE RIGHTS PRACTICE

Training Materials© The Legal Aid Society 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted without the prior written permission of

The Legal Aid Society.

What Our Work Does to Us

What Our Work Does to Us (© The Legal Aid Society 2011) 2

The Legal Aid Society of New York City

Oldest (est. 1876) and largest private, not-for-profit organization providing free legal assistance in the US

Represents clients in over 300,000 cases each year

Provides comprehensive range of legal services in three practice areas: civil, criminal and juvenile

Services provided in a network of 25 neighborhood and court-house offices by a staff of 900 attorneys and 600 social workers, investigators, paralegals, and support staff


Juvenile Rights Practice

Established concurrently with the NYS Family Court in 1962

Provides representation to 90% of the children appearing in the five NYC Family Courts on dependency, termination of parental rights, status offense, and delinquency petitions

Represents more than 34,000 children, ages birth to 21 years, each year

Provides representation in appellate cases and initiates class action lawsuits and other litigation aimed at system reform

Pioneered in the use of professional social workers to assist in representing children


1. What are Secondary Trauma Stress (STS), Vicarious Trauma (VT) and Burnout?

2. Do we have Secondary Trauma Stress (STS), Vicarious Trauma (VT) or Burnout?

3. Why do we have Secondary Trauma Stress (STS), Vicarious Trauma (VT) and Burnout?

4. What are we going to do about it?


Stress Defined

A mentally or emotionally disruptive or disquieting influence, it can be positive or negative.

It emerges over time.

Each new stress builds on unresolved past stress, compounding the effect of additional stress.


Do You…

Work relentlessly for clients?

Get over-involved in work?

Frequently skip lunch to work?

Frequently stay late at the office?

Accumulate too many vacation days?

Sacrifice your health and private time to cases?

7What Our Work Does to Us (© The Legal Aid Society 2011)

1. What Are: Secondary Trauma Stress? Vicarious Trauma?

Burnout?


Trauma Defined

Trauma: Any shock that creates substantial damage to the psychological health of the individual.

Traumatic stress: The strain on the human mind and body from a specific major event that shocks, stuns and horrifies.


Vicarious Trauma (VT)

Witnessing traumatic events experienced by our clients

Absorbing the sight, sound, touch, and feel of the stories told by the victim

Causing an instant physical reaction

Shaking beliefs about kindness of others and safety


Symptoms of Vicarious Trauma (VT)

The trauma experienced by the client creates distress in the helper which may cause symptoms such as:

• Minor sleep disorders

• Hyper-arousal

• Intrusive thoughts

• Recurring dreams

• Avoidance or emotional numbing

• Anxiety

• Depression


Secondary Trauma Stress (STS)

AKA Compassion Fatigue

Combination of exposure to trauma and empathy

Behavior and emotions resulting from knowing about a traumatizing event experienced by someone close

Emotional weight experienced when helping or wanting to help a traumatized person


Factors Contributing to STS

Chronic nature of our work and its stresses

Our own trauma triggered by hearing about clients’ trauma

Lack of control over work life

Experiencing:

• The pain of our clients

• The difference between expectations and realities

• The difference between how we perceive our job and how our clients and their families perceive it

• A sense that showing emotions, especially for attorneys, is seen as weakness


Burnout Three dimensions:

• Emotional exhaustion

• Depersonalization

• Low feeling of accomplishment

All three feed on each other, quickly creating a downward spiral

Often stems from the distance between a person’s values and goals and the resources available to achieve them

Can be the end result of Secondary Trauma Stress and Vicarious Trauma

Common in helping professions


Signs of Burnout Fatigue

Poor Sleep

Headaches

Anxiety and irritability

Depression and hopelessness

Cynicism

Gradual erosion of idealism


Burnout Personified


2. Do We Have: Secondary Trauma Stress? Vicarious Trauma?

Burnout?


Caring Has a Price

STS is a natural result of knowledge about a trauma.

It is also the result of wanting to help a trauma victim,

And possibly not being able to do so.

We pay the price every day.


People Bring Themselves

People bring their experiences and personal perspectives to anything they do:

• Their attitudes, beliefs and assumptions

• Their relationships with family, friends and others

• Their history of trauma

• Their cultural background

• Their socio-economic situationADAPTED FROM: ©Beth Hudnall, 2009. www.ProQOL.org


The Professional Quality of Life Scale(ProQOL)

A 30 item self report scale

Measures Compassion Satisfaction, Burnout and Secondary Trauma Stress

Statistically valid measure developed with data from over 3,000 people

Most widely used measure of the positive and negative aspects of helping

ADAPTED FROM: ©Beth Hudnall, 2009. www.ProQOL.org


Our Survey

ProQOL was used in our Legal Aid survey

30 other questions were added to the survey to develop JRP-specific data:

• Characteristics of the responders

• Work styles

• Environment


40

42

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

66

68

70Social Workers

Support Staff

Paralegals

Managers

Attorneys

Mean

Secondary Trauma Stress


40

42

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

66

68

70

Social Workers

Support Staff

Paralegals

Managers

Attorneys

Mean

Burnout


40

42

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

66

68

70Social Workers

Support Staff

Paralegals

Managers

Attorneys

Mean

Compassion Satisfaction


3. Why Do We Have: Secondary Trauma Stress? Vicarious Trauma?

Burnout?


We Checked Out…

Differences among professions and their levels of STS

Is there a relationship between STS and:

• Vacations

• Outside activities

• Sense of responsibility for clients

• Supervision

• Health


I Give My Clients My Personal Contact Information


I Check My Email on My Personal Time


I Feel that I Need to Be Available to My Clients Outside of Work Hours


I Feel that My Client’s Safety and Well-being Rests Primarily on My Shoulders


I Feel this Work Affects My Health


What do you think……??


Our Working Theory

Exposure to trauma is part of the job.

We work in a crisis-oriented, dysfunctional system.

We develop a different sense of “normal”.

Our work is child client directed.


Exposure to Trauma

Our clients have experienced trauma.

Their parents have experienced trauma.

Their families have experienced trauma.

They come with current and past traumas that become a part of our work with them.


The System We Work In

Problem focused

Power and control are important

Players in the system do not collaborate and cooperate and communicate

Lack of resources

Sustainability problems

Poor training, supervision & support for many players in the system

A sense of having to compensate for the failures of others


Our Work Is Client Directed

Our job is not defined by winning.

We have an important but limited role in our clients lives.

We are not here to “save” them.

We have to trust that our clients’ decisions are right for them even if we feel differently.


What Is Our Motivation?

Why did we chose a profession focused on helping others?

What core beliefs led us to it?

What do we get out of it?

What don’t we get out of it (money, status, power)?


Empathy Defined

Appreciation of the feelings of others, even if they are distant others

Emotional responsiveness

Willingness to be/work with others who have problems


The Bottom Line

Trauma is an

occupational hazard

of this work.


4. What Are We Going to Do About It?


Preventing and Managing STS

Knowledge

Recognition

Response

• Personal

• Institutional

• Professional


The Ethics of Self Care

1. Do no harm to yourself when helping others.

2. Pay yourself first. Attend to your physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs so you can provide the highest quality services to your clients.

3. Neglecting sufficient self care can cause harm to those you serve.


Personal ResponsesBe an Advocate for Yourself

Remember the basics: sleep, eat, exercise, laugh

Balance home & work - leave work, refuel and refill

Cultivate healthy intimate and family relationships

Develop a healthy attitude towards the use of drugs and alcohol

Get regular medical & dental checkups

Consider including spirituality or meditation in your day

If needed, seek counseling and professional help


Stress Management Learn stress management techniques

• Breathing exercises

• “Centering” and using guided imagery

• Biofeedback

• Progressive relaxation

Develop skills to soothe and calm yourself

Be aware of physical manifestations of STS

• Empathic resonance (tendency to experience the same feelings as the client, e.g. anger, sadness, etc.)

• Hyper-arousal, hyper-sensitivity (tendency to over-react to stimuli)


Save Time for Things that Give Your Life Meaning

Contact with nature

Spirituality

Creative expression

Volunteer work

Whatever else works for you


Institutional Responses Create a safe and supportive environment

Ensure regular supervision and peer and individual support, especially during times of crisis

Balance case load size/work load

Encourage attendance at continuing professional education

Address effects of STS and other job issues

Undertake coalition building with other system players

Guarantee a healthy work setting

Make sure staff understands policies and procedures

Provide access to leaders and supervisors

Create adequate human resource policies

Provide a method for seeking counseling and professional help

Create awareness of these issues during staff recruiting


Supervisory Responses

Create and maintain an open and nonjudgmental professional space

Supervisors must address STS issues

• Identify pertinent cases, discuss issues, validate reactions, encourage and monitor self care

Good supervision includes:

• Dedicated time

• A collaborative relationship

• Constructive feedback

• Reflection

• Self exploration

• Mentorship

APPRECIATION AND RECOGNITION!!!!APPRECIATION AND RECOGNITION!!!!


Professional Responses Within Your Office

Acknowledge toll of work

Arrange job into manageable, well paced parts

Boundary and limit setting - You can only accomplish so much with limited hours and personal resources

Engage in daily goal setting and/or self evaluation at the end of the day

Develop and implement plans for coping with STS

Reduce and resist isolation in yourself and others

Make worker care a team activity

Help each other keep good work boundaries


Professional Responses Outside Your Office

Reach out for peer support - formally and informally

• Cultivate relationships with professional peers outside Family Court

• Attend professional trainings

• Participate in professional societies

• Cultivate relationships with other professionals who have a positive attitude

• Find professional mentors

Engage in social activism to help clients and the community develop a sense of shared mission


Resilience

Resilience is how a person recovers (bounces back) from stress and trauma.

It can be inherited or innate, but resilience can also be learned and developed.

Resilience is related to the delicate balance between the factors and defenses that protect against cumulative stress (prevention and management).

It is based on having/employing coping skills that allow for continued stress resolution.


Compassion Satisfaction

Perceived stress is associated with lower compassion and job satisfaction.

Workers in the same setting who report higher job satisfaction report less stress.

Job satisfaction is associated with higher levels of social support, autonomy and effectiveness.


Our Goal


Thank youPlease feel free to contact us

Vicki Light [email protected]

Brad Martin [email protected]

Jennifer Melnick [email protected]

Beth Hofmeister [email protected]

the legal aid society juvenile rights practice training materials © the legal aid society 2011 all...

Documents

secondary trauma stress

trauma definedtrauma

traumatic stress

free legal assistance

stress defineda

new stress builds

unresolved past stress

effect of additional