Strengths for Helping Professionals Exposed to Secondary Trauma: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Occupational Health
• Trauma Studies

Background:

• Helping professionals face psychological distress due to trauma exposure.
• Existing research often focuses on risk factors for secondary trauma, neglecting protective strengths.
• The Resilience Portfolio Model provides a framework for understanding these strengths.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize literature on individual and environmental strengths that mitigate secondary traumatic stress in helping professionals.
• To apply the Resilience Portfolio Model to identify protective factors.
• To inform interventions aimed at supporting professionals in trauma-related fields.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review of 43 articles published between 1990 and May 2023.
• Searches conducted across CINAHL, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, and MEDLINE databases.
• Analysis guided by the Resilience Portfolio Model.

Main Results:

• Professionals utilize a portfolio of meaning-making, regulatory, interpersonal, and ecological strengths.
• Organizational factors, particularly supervision, were frequently explored.
• Quantitative studies predominated the reviewed literature.

Conclusions:

• A diverse range of strengths can enhance protective resources against secondary traumatic stress.
• Further research is needed to identify specific individual strengths for targeted interventions.
• Investigating the interplay of individual, organizational, and systemic factors is crucial for buffering professionals.