Parkridge Valley Self Care Initiative
My second project will be psychoeducation on the topic of Secondary, Vicarious Trauma, and Burnout as well as a comparative analysis of current policy (EAP program) on how self-care is addressed by the organization versus my proposal. This information will be presented during a Lunch and Learn at the organization. There will be pre and post test to evaluate the staff’s knowledge on this topic as well as an overall evaluation of the presentation. The goal will be to create and implement a self-care policy for Parkridge Valley staff.
What social issue has been addressed and why?
The second project is providing education on how supervision and frontline staff can be aware of secondary, vicarious trauma, and burnout within themselves and coworkers as well as hopefully implement a self-care initiative for their staff.
The entire organization will benefit from the second project proposal. We need Parkridge Valley staff that can provide Critical Incident Debriefs to their internal staff. While TN public safety network typically provides this training to law enforcement, my current job with Department of Children’s Services has been able to be trained as they are also responding out in the community dealing with potentially dangerous and volatile situations. Between 40% and 85% of “helping professionals” develop vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and/or high rates of traumatic symptoms. (Mathieu, 2012). In a sample of social workers, 15.2% met the full criteria for PTSD due to indirect trauma exposure (Bride, 2007). These statistics are alarming as these are the ones on the frontline helping our mental health community.
I have initiated both projects so far with the assistance of Parkridge Valley’s community liaison Kristen Smith, Supervisor Justin F., and Supervisor Latricia, and MSW Field Supervisor Caitlyn Momom as well as other individuals that I have professional relationships with at DCS.
What interventions have been designed?
The mission for my Self-Care project/presentation would be to educate the staff on various forms of trauma from working in the mental health field and how to recognize and combat the symptoms. The intervention would be to complete a comparative analysis of the current EAP program and a Self Care Policy created with the feedback from the pre & post tests and evaluations. The goal would be to have a formal Self Care Policy created for Parkridge Valley staff.
Intervention
Here is the PowerPoint Presentation. This was my intervention with Parkridge Valley Staff for the Self Care Initiative.
The theoretical foundation for both of my special projects is the social learning theory. In its basic form, the social learning theory states that people can learn new information simply by watching others (Psychology Today, 2024). The reason for choosing this theoretical perspective for both of my project’s framework is because for the Parkridge Valley Self-Care Initiative, we can learn self-care strategies from current staff on what works best for them and what is allowed in the agency.
Review of Literature
Self Care for Frontline Staff
There has been numerous studies completed on how secondary and vicarious trauma effect frontline staff and case managers that work with the general public in a helping profession capacity (Cummings et al., 2021; Yazıcı & Özdemir, 2023; Kerig, 2019). Helping professionals that have their own history of trauma are more likely to experience vicarious trauma and secondary trauma (Yazıcı & Özdemir, 2023). However, individuals that have high emotional intelligence and self compassion are less likely to be negatively effected (Yazıcı & Özdemir, 2023). Due to this, there has been a great push over the past years for staff and supervision to implement self-care strategies. Often times these strategies are more talked about than implemented. In the companies and organizations that have implemented self-care policies, there has been a dramatic decrease in turnover and an increase in over all well-being for their employees. While most corporate or government organizations have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), it falls short on the day to day small activities that can be done to help mitigate secondary and vicarious trauma.
What were some results achieved?
For my second project, I created a pre and post test on the individual’s knowledge of secondary and vicarious trauma. The goal would be for staff to gain knowledge from this information and be able to recognize it in their coworkers as well as propose/implement a policy within Parkridge Valley for self-care instead of through their EAP program.
Theoretical Perspectives
Both interventions were guided by the Social Learning Theory, which states people learn from observing others’ behaviors, attitudes, and outcomes. This theory was crucial in understanding how mental health administration might adopt and adhere to new policies through education and modeling appropriate behaviors. By aligning the intervention with this theoretical framework, it was anticipated that increased awareness and training would lead to better adherence to the proposed policy changes within and outside the organization.
Limitations
Some limitations for both projects are time and financial resources. I am only at my advanced practicum until October 2024. I can provide education on Self Care and the various traumas however I will not be able to see if the information proves to be useful in implementing change into their current policies and practices. For the project proposal, some limitations will be administration approval as well as time and financial resources.
Conclusions
For the second project, the conclusion would be for the organization to ensure self-care is implemented in policy and for supervision to be aware of secondary, vicarious trauma, and burnout. Here is the Parkridge-Valley-Self-Care-Initiative and the Special-Project-Comparative-Analysis.
Results
After presenting my Parkridge Valley Self-Care initiative PowerPoint, staff provided evaluations on the content and quality of the presentation. The majority of staff appreciated the information. Staff provided insight on what they would like to see implemented in the self-care initiative separate from the EAP program.
References
Coggins, M. H., Pynchon, M. R., Coggins, M. H., & Pynchon, M. R. (1998). Mental health consultant to law enforcement: Secret Service development of a Mental Health Liaison Program. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 16(4), 407–422. https://doi-org.ezproxy.southern.edu/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0798(199823)16:4<407::AID-BSL318>3.0.CO;2-W
Cummings, C., Singer, J., Hisaka, R., & Benuto, L. T. (2021). Compassion Satisfaction to Combat Work-Related Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, and Secondary Traumatic Stress. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(9–10), NP5304–NP5319. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518799502
Kerig, P. K. (2019). Enhancing Resilience Among Providers of Trauma-Informed Care: A Curriculum for Protection Against Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Non-Mental Health Professionals. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 28(5), 613–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1468373
Marcus, N., & Stergiopoulos, V. (2022). Re‐examining mental health crisis intervention: A rapid review comparing outcomes across police, co‐responder and non‐police models. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(5), 1665–1679. https://doi-org.ezproxy.southern.edu/10.1111/hsc.13731
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/social-learning-theory
“Tennessee police, MH professionals pair to support community.” Mental Health Weekly, vol.
28, no. 19, 14 May 2018, pp. 5+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A542801647/AONE?u=tel_a_sau&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=afb700d0. Accessed 7 Apr. 2024.
Watson, A. C., & Fulambarker, A. J. (2012). The Crisis Intervention Team Model of Police
Response to Mental Health Crises: A Primer for Mental Health Practitioners. Best Practice in Mental Health, 8(2), 71–81.
Weine, S., Kohrt, B. A., Collins, P. Y., Cooper, J., Lewis-Fernandez, R., Okpaku, S., & Wainberg, M. L. (2020). Justice for George Floyd and a reckoning for global mental health. Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health, 7, 1–5. https://doi-org.ezproxy.southern.edu/10.1017/gmh.2020.17
Yazıcı, H., & Özdemir, M. (2023). Predictors of Secondary Traumatic Stress in Mental Health Professionals: Trauma History, Self-Compassion, Emotional Intelligence. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, 41(1), 162–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-022-00458-y
https://www.inhersight.com/blog/female-friendly-companies/6-companies-self-care-initiatives-we-can-get-behin
Powerpoint References
https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/your-wellbeing/vicarious-trauma/vicarious-trauma-signs-and-strategies-for-coping
https://www.tnpsn.org/
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/signs-compassion-fatigue
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/burnout-symptoms-signs
Competencies
Competency 1: Demonstrate ethical and professional behavior.
For this special projects, I will be presenting this information to other professionals. I will demonstrate ethical behavior by presenting accurate information from qualified and empirical sources. I will demonstrate professional behavior through my oral and written skills during the presentation as well as dressing in business casual attire.
Competency 2: Advance Human Rights and Social, Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice.
This project will advance human rights by supporting mental health professionals long-term when working with clients in mental health crisis. These projects will promote social, economic, and racial justice for clients by helping the professionals that help them. These projects will promote social justice by connecting mental health agencies with resources and education on self-care.
Competency 3: Engage Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ADEI) in Practice.
This project engages anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion in practice due to all helping professionals deserve self-care. This will encourage the organization to provide self-care opportunities to all employees regardless of demographic differences.
Competency 4: Engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice.
This projects include research conducted based on test and evaluations provided to staff at Parkridge Valley.
I looked at research concerning the effects of unchecked self-care by helping professionals.
The evidence found through this research will provide frameworks for developing new practices. Research will be conducted using pre and post-testing of staff as well as evaluations of the material disseminated.
Competency 5: Engage in policy practice.
This psychoeducation project on Self Care will provide Parkridge Valley leadership with the tools necessary to support their staff. I plan on advocating for the implementation of these projects to support a better working environment for inside and outside stakeholders.
Competency 6: Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
At the onset of my practicum, I met with Parkridge Valley leadership to determine what the needs and wants of the organization are within the community. I engaged with the staff by reaching out to gauge interest and willingness to participate with the program.
Another need was providing self-care support and education to the mental health technicians at the hospital.
Competency 7: Assess with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
For my projects, I was able to assess the needs of Parkridge Valley by talking with staff and leadership.
Competency 8: Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
I utilized interventions by providing staff with pre & post tests and evaluations. There were also pre & post tests, and evaluations created for when Parkridge Valley implements the East TN MH Workgroup proposal.
Competency 9: Evaluate individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.
I evaluated the outcomes of the pre & post test and evaluations to determine the effectiveness of the project after presentation or implementation.