Trauma and Secondary Trauma
Trauma can be described as the effects of an event, or series of events, that cause intense psychological shock. Children who have experienced trauma can find it difficult to settle, to learn and to manage relationships. You may immediately be able to think of some children that this describes.
As an educator, helping and empathising on a daily basis with children who have experienced trauma can have a significant impact on your own well-being, to the point where you can begin to suffer similar effects as those who are traumatised, and therefore be experiencing Secondary Trauma. This can lead to difficulties with mental and physical health, for example low energy, lack of sleep, frequent headaches, lack of motivation, feeling hopeless and unable to meet all the demands made of you. This can affect all areas of your life and could lead to compassion fatigue, breakdown or burnout.
Supervision can help you become more aware of the impact that your work has on you and your colleagues, to develop an understanding of why and how this happens (especially with some children) and give you time and space to process this.
Together we can develop ways to help you take care of yourself and manage stress levels and build your resilience.