Surviving vicarious supporter trauma
My knowledge of mental health comes from experience. Not experience as a sufferer, but as an often helpless bystander. Experience as a child watching her mother struggle with early onset Alzheimer’s and lose her independence. Experience as a member of a school community collectively grieving after a teacher took his own life. Then, the cruellest experience of all, as a parent watching her teenage son grapple with anxiety, peer pressure and self-loathing to the point that he made unsafe choices to escape the pain. The ripple effect on colleagues, family or friends is often under the surface and therefore, often goes unnoticed.
Your energy is poured into support, be it practical or emotional. The impact on your own wellbeing can be gradual and cumulative, until an unrelated event triggers an out of character response and you realise, too late, that you too are suffering. From my desk, I see legal practitioners experiencing vicarious trauma when working with distressed clients. It reminds me of a Legal Aid client whose wife had died suddenly without a will and I just sat there wondering how to respond to his grief, mixed with anger, when he discovered hidden debt. Seeing the anguish on his face, it was difficult to switch off at the end of my allocated session.
So my call is to those silent sufferers who may consider themselves lucky to escape the black dog. You will want to be there for your colleagues or clients, family or friends; so workplace resilience and wellbeing programs will assist you and them. But a dash of self-help is also needed.
Research tells us that one in three lawyers suffer from mental illness at some stage in their working life. Whilst the degree will vary, for every sufferer, there is a supporter. So whether you are supporting a colleague or client, family or friend; having strategies to deal with vicarious trauma is essential. QLS supports its members through the Wellbeing Working Group and dedicated resilience and welling resources.
QLS Symposium 2018 is another great opportunity to get serious about wellbeing. Professor Stephen Woods of the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University will present on tips for looking after yourself when dealing with distressed clients as well as how to manage the impact on yourself and your organisation. And, of course, you can get an instant boost to your wellbeing at Symposium by networking with colleagues over a coffee at Law on the Lawn.
QLS Symposium is the premier event for Queensland’s legal profession. Held on 9–10 March 2018, hear from leading experts as they discuss planning for, embracing and thriving in the complexity of legal practice.
