February 25, 2022
Presented by Erin McIntyre, OTD, MA, OTR/L and Jessica De Brun, OTD, MOT, OTR/L
Mental health service providers may experience feelings of burnout as a result of providing trauma-focused treatment with a lack of awareness and resources devoted to the prevention of secondary trauma. Recently, there have been reports of heightened levels of anxious thoughts, depressed moods, fearfulness, and disengagement due to a global crisis of highly charged political, economic, and racial turmoil which is impacting the ability to engage in our work, and care for ourselves. Trauma stewardship is a method of identifying and coping with the impacts that exposure to others’ trauma can have on our work, our relationships, and our internal experiences (thoughts, feelings, sensations). When the brain is experiencing traumatic stress, energy is focused on survival, and learning and reasoning are negatively impacted. Implementation of trauma informed methods, such as the Trauma Stewardship approach, can be utilized to address secondary trauma and promote resilience in those working in mental health services. Erin McIntyre and Jessica De Brun will provide training on how to cope with these experiences in order to increase provider wellbeing — and how this manifests as improved quality of care for clients with trauma history.