Does it only benefit the patient? Potentially positive impact of psychotherapy of traumatized people — on the therapist
More details
Hide details
1
Prywatny Gabinet Psychiatryczny
Submission date: 2024-09-15
Final revision date: 2025-01-11
Acceptance date: 2025-01-14
Publication date: 2025-04-25
Psychoter 2024;211(4):53-66
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
When working with people experiencing trauma, a therapist may also experience negative changes such as professional burnout, secondary traumatic stress, or vicarious trauma. A lesser-known area of change in the therapist is the potentially positive changes as a result of working with traumatized individuals: compassion satisfaction, vicarious resilience, or vicarious traumatic growth. In this paper, the author focused on vicarious post-traumatic growth. As a result of the therapist's internal process of transformation, changes such as self-development, changes in life philosophy, a sense of gratitude and appreciation, greater acceptance, changes in personal relationships, recognition of the potential for human resilience, development of new coping strategies, increased job satisfaction and better toleration of anxiety occur. Numerous longitudinal studies show that the changes taking place in the therapist are not an illusion made by self-report, but a real change confirmed by those close to them. The author also points out that we can experience positive change not only through suffering, but also through good life experiences. Finally, practical implications are given from the consideration of vicarious post-traumatic growth.