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This qualitative study was designed to identify protective practices that mitigate risks of Vicarious Traumatization (VT) among trauma therapists. The sample included six peer-nominated experienced therapists, trained at the masters or doctoral level, who self-identified as having managed well in this work. Narrative data was collected through interviews with individual co-participants, who were asked, "How do you manage to sustain your personal and professional wellbeing, given the challenges of your work with seriously traumatized clients?" Data analysis was based upon Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber's (1998) typology of narrative analysis, with a primary focus on thematic content analysis within and across participants' narratives. The research findings yielded twelve major themes that describe protective practices engaged by exemplary trauma therapists: countering isolation (in professional, personal and spiritual realms); developing mindful self awareness; consciously expanding perspective to embrace complexity; openness to the unknown; sustaining and renewing hope; active optimism and problem solving; holistic self-care; maintaining clear boundaries; invoking imagery, metaphor, and ritual; exquisite empathy; professional satisfaction; and creating meaning. The novel finding that empathic engagement with traumatized clients appeared to be protective challenges previous conceptualizations of VT and points to exciting new directions for research and theory, as well as applications to practice. Participants also described experiences of vicarious post-traumatic growth. The findings confirm and extend previous recommendations for ameliorating VT and underscore the ethical responsibility shared by employers, educators, professional bodies, and individual practitioners to create time and space to address this serious problem. Participants recommend opportunities for regular supervision, support and validation (including group-based interaction), self-care (including personal therapy, as needed), and developing self-awareness within and beyond the workplace. They think taking care of the caregivers is an organizational responsibility as well as a personal one. Although the research design precludes generalizing from the data, the knowledge generated herein may be helpful to others in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, psychiatric nursing, and related health care disciplines, at the levels of education, training, and practice.

This qualitative study was designed to identify protective practices that mitigate risks of Vicarious Traumatization (VT) among trauma therapists. The sample included six peer-nominated experienced therapists, trained at the masters or doctoral level, who self-identified as having managed well in this work. Narrative data was collected through interviews with individual co-participants, who were asked, "How do you manage to sustain your personal and professional wellbeing, given the challenges of your work with seriously traumatized clients?" Data analysis was based upon Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber's (1998) typology of narrative analysis, with a primary focus on thematic content analysis within and across participants' narratives. The research findings yielded twelve major themes that describe protective practices engaged by exemplary trauma therapists: countering isolation (in professional, personal and spiritual realms); developing mindful self awareness; consciously expanding perspective to embrace complexity; openness to the unknown; sustaining and renewing hope; active optimism and problem solving; holistic self-care; maintaining clear boundaries; invoking imagery, metaphor, and ritual; exquisite empathy; professional satisfaction; and creating meaning. The novel finding that empathic engagement with traumatized clients appeared to be protective challenges previous conceptualizations of VT and points to exciting new directions for research and theory, as well as applications to practice. Participants also described experiences of vicarious post-traumatic growth. The findings confirm and extend previous recommendations for ameliorating VT and underscore the ethical responsibility shared by employers, educators, professional bodies, and individual practitioners to create time and space to address this serious problem. Participants recommend opportunities for regular supervision, support and validation (including group-based interaction), self-care (including personal therapy, as needed), and developing self-awareness within and beyond the workplace. They think taking care of the caregivers is an organizational responsibility as well as a personal one. Although the research design precludes generalizing from the data, the knowledge generated herein may be helpful to others in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, psychiatric nursing, and related health care disciplines, at the levels of education, training, and practice.

This qualitative study was designed to identify protective practices that mitigate risks of Vicarious Traumatization (VT) among trauma therapists. The sample included six peer-nominated experienced therapists, trained at the masters or doctoral level, who self-identified as having managed well in this work. Narrative data was collected through interviews with individual co-participants, who were asked, "How do you manage to sustain your personal and professional wellbeing, given the challenges of your work with seriously traumatized clients?" Data analysis was based upon Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber's (1998) typology of narrative analysis, with a primary focus on thematic content analysis within and across participants' narratives. The research findings yielded twelve major themes that describe protective practices engaged by exemplary trauma therapists: countering isolation (in professional, personal and spiritual realms); developing mindful self awareness; consciously expanding perspective to embrace complexity; openness to the unknown; sustaining and renewing hope; active optimism and problem solving; holistic self-care; maintaining clear boundaries; invoking imagery, metaphor, and ritual; exquisite empathy; professional satisfaction; and creating meaning. The novel finding that empathic engagement with traumatized clients appeared to be protective challenges previous conceptualizations of VT and points to exciting new directions for research and theory, as well as applications to practice. Participants also described experiences of vicarious post-traumatic growth. The findings confirm and extend previous recommendations for ameliorating VT and underscore the ethical responsibility shared by employers, educators, professional bodies, and individual practitioners to create time and space to address this serious problem. Participants recommend opportunities for regular supervision, support and validation (including group-based interaction), self-care (including personal therapy, as needed), and developing self-awareness within and beyond the workplace. They think taking care of the caregivers is an organizational responsibility as well as a personal one. Although the research design precludes generalizing from the data, the knowledge generated herein may be helpful to others in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, social work, psychiatric nursing, and related health care disciplines, at the levels of education, training, and practice. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of the study was to gain insight into how psychologists experience resiliency, satisfaction, and personal growth despite the challenges (e.g., vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue) of working with trauma survivors. While it cannot be ignored that many psychologists experience negative effects related to working with traumatized clients, it is important to acknowledge the potential to experience resiliency and growth from their work with trauma survivors. Interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore the lived experiences of vicarious resiliency and growth in psychologists who work with trauma survivors. Data was collected through an in-depth individual semi-structured interview with six psychologists. The data generated was transcribed and analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological analysis (Smith & Osborn, 2003). Results revealed four major themes: privileging a shared journey, developing purpose and personal growth, deriving positive meaning, and serving humanity with an overarching theme of maintaining resiliency. The current study provided a valuable contribution to the limited literature on psychologists’ ability to foster positive outcomes for themselves through focusing on resiliency, satisfaction, and growth, despite the inherent risks of trauma work. Applications to practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Remote Sensing Group (RSG) at the University of Arizona performs the vicarious calibration of airborne and spaceborne sensors using ground-based measurements. Vicarious calibration is important because it is independent of the sensor and any onboard calibration system, but it requires that RSG personnel be present at a test site during the aircraft or satellite overpass. The ground-based data collection can be limited by poor weather, and also by the large travel distances from RSG's laboratory to the test sites.This dissertation presents an automated methodology that is used in support of vicarious calibration. The most important parameter measured during a vicarious calibration field campaign is the surface reflectance, and this work describes the method and instrumentation to obtain surface reflectance in the absence of RSG personnel. The instrumentation required to measure the surface and atmospheric parameters is discussed. The design and laboratory characterization of a nadir-viewing, multispectral radiometer is presented. Finally, results using this methodology are compared to those obtained using vicarious calibration, and also with the top-of-atmosphere radiance for one Terra MODIS, and two Aqua MODIS overpasses.

This thesis is a creative one, comprised of eight short stories which deal with a variety of subjects. All of the material is concerned with personal or vicarious experience.

Various forms of trauma are regularly reported across the spectrum of counseling settings and the potential negative psychological effects on counselors who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic material are well documented. However, many researchers suggest that vicarious traumatization can be prevented and mitigated with personal and professional self-care strategies. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics indicates that counselors have a professional responsibility to engage in self-care activities, as efforts to ensure the psychological health of counselors will have a direct effect on their ability to help clients. The purpose of this mixed-method, descriptive, correlational research was to explore what types of educational preparation and training counselors have received regarding self-care and what types of self-care strategies counselors are using. The efficacy of those training methods and self-care strategies when implemented were also measured, from the perspective of the participants. The Self-Care Training and Implementation Questionnaire (STIQ), a 19-item, structured and semi-structured questionnaire developed for this research, was electronically sent to 3000 randomly selected members of ACA, resulting in 310 responses, 286 of which were deemed appropriate for inclusion. Analysis included descriptive analyses (quantitative data) and content and theme analyses (qualitative data). The results of this study indicated that counselors recognized the value of self-care and participated in activities that promoted a healthy lifestyle and mitigated stress, thus working toward a balance that fostered effective work performance. However, the findings demonstrated that most counselors do not receive formal self-care training and self-care has been an endeavor pursued independently, outside of education and work settings. Implications for counselor education, training, policy and research are discussed.

Medical Social Workers are placed in fast pace environments with little time to process their feelings after being exposed to their client’s traumatic stories. The study assessed the implications of vicarious trauma on medical social workers and its impact on client outcomes. The current study utilizes a sample of 20 medical social workers employed in hospital settings across San Bernardino County. Social Work personnel were asked to take The Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, which measurements are most congruent to the DSM-5 criteria of Secondary Traumatic Stress. To assess the relationship between Secondary Trauma and demographic characteristics of the social worker, an ANOVA and Post-Hoc test were conducted on SPSS to analyze data. This study will assist social workers in recognizing implications to their vicarious trauma and seek intervention before it manifests into their patient relationship. Policies that require social workers to be evaluated for vicarious traumatization would be advantageous and decrease turnover rates among medical social work.

The purpose of the present laboratory study was to investigate the relative effects of sharing and nonsharing peer and adult models on the facilitation of prosocial behaviors with and without reinforcement to the model. One hundred and sixty second and third grade children served as subjects and were randomly assigned to six treatment groups and one control group. For replication purposes, half of the subjects participated in each condition prior to the second half doing so. Children in the treatment groups viewed videotaped sequences portraying both a male and female model sharing or not sharing tokens with poor children. Models were either peers or adults. Sharing was either reinforced by praise from an adult or not reinforced; nonsharing was not reinforced. Children in the control group viewed an entertainment program devoid of prosocial or antisocial content. All children received instructions with respect to the acquisition and distribution of tokens which were exchangeable for prizes at the end of the session. Prosocial behaviors were· assessed following the videotaped sequences and included token donations, volunteering of work, and offering help following a staged accident. Children viewing nonsharing and nonreinforced peers had lower token donations than children in other treatment groups and the control group. Although not statistically significant findings, children who viewed peer models exhibiting prosocial behaviors that were reinforced had greater token donations and tended to help in the staged accident more than children in other treatment groups. No differences were found between treatment groups with respect to volunteering work. More children provided help in a staged accident when they had observed sharing peers who were reinforced than children in other conditions. However when children observed nonsharing and nonreinforced adults, they displayed a lower incidence of helping. Vicarious reinforcement produced greater, though not statistically significant, token donations as compared with the absence of reinforcement in both adult and peer treatment conditions. The correlations among donations, volunteering, and helping were found to be low. Modeling in combination with reinforcement of the model was not sufficient to increase prosocial behaviors significantly beyond the performance of a control group. The contribution of peer modeling to the facilitation of prosocial behaviors in the early elementary grades appears slight. Nevertheless, peer models were especially influential in inhibiting prosocial behaviors by the modeling of antisocial responses. The observation of reinforcement contingencies applied to models only slightly increased prosocial behaviors and can not be considered a potent variable in this behavior domain.