In this episode, therapists Miranda Barker and Karna Boynton share an in-depth conversation about secondary traumatic stress (STS). Karna, an experienced clinician and licensed marriage family therapist, opens up about her personal experience with STS, describing how the compounded stress from her professional and personal life led her to encounter PTSD-like symptoms.

We're discussing the distinctions between burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and secondary traumatic stress, emphasizing the need for mental health professionals to prioritize self-care and seek support when needed.

Karna offers valuable advice on recognizing warning signs, setting boundaries, and finding coping mechanisms that work. This episode aims to shed light on the significant impact of STS on therapists and the importance of acknowledging and addressing this often-overlooked issue.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction and Meet the Guest

00:24 Karna's Career Journey

02:06 Understanding Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)

03:24 Burnout vs. Compassion Fatigue

07:14 Vicarious Trauma Explained

11:49 Personal Experiences and Warning Signs

24:55 The Pressure Cooker: Personal and Professional Struggles

33:09 The Breaking Point: Recognizing the Signs

33:21 Physical Manifestations of Stress

34:12 Therapeutic Modalities and Their Impact

35:40 The Emotional Toll of Trauma Work

36:28 Navigating Client-Therapist Boundaries

39:40 Assessment and Realization

41:56 Experiencing Secondary Trauma

48:45 Steps Towards Recovery

51:49 Reevaluating and Rebuilding

53:26 Sharing the Journey

58:36 Final Reflections and Advice

The Therapist Thrival Guide is a podcast by Ellie Mental Health. We want to move therapists beyond surviving and into the realm of thriving by covering all the things that graduate school didn't teach you! This mental health podcast is hosted by Miranda Barker, LICSW and a rotating cast of seasoned therapists. Each episode features a therapist speaking to their areas of expertise to help us learn how to thrive as therapists.⁠⁠

Miranda Barker⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, MSW, LICSW, has been practicing as a therapist for over three years. She previously worked as a child protection investigator, adoption social worker, and case manager. She's new to the therapy game and loves soaking up all of the knowledge from the expert therapists in her life. She's currently the Director of Content and Production at Ellie Mental Health's in-house creative agency and believes that creativity is an important aspect of mental health care.

The Therapist Thrival Guide is one of many creative productions from ⁠Ellie Mental Health⁠. Ellie is a national mental health brand organized around community-based outpatient mental health clinics. It all began with a single office in St. Paul, Minnesota back in 2015, and since then has expanded to over 24 clinics in Minnesota and an explosive number of locations nationwide after franchising our model in 2021. Ellie will be opening over 500 locations in communities nationwide with new clinics opening each week. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠#therapy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠