Please help me welcome Anahi Amador to the podcast today! Anahi is a school counselor, a mom of one (soon to be 2!), a coworker, and a dear friend.
In this episode, we talk about
* What vicarious trauma is
* How vicarious trauma differs from burnout
* How you can have more conversations about mental health
I am so grateful for Anahi, not only because she is an amazing person, but also because she introduced me to the term of vicarious trauma, which is also called Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS). Many educators haven’t heard of this term before, even though it can affect us in the school setting. You don’t want to miss this episode! I would love to hear your takeaways from this episode, so please send me a message and let’s chat about this important topic. Also, Anahi has provided several resources if you would like to continue learning about vicarious trauma.
Helpful Links:
American Counseling Association: Brief fact sheet about vicarious trauma. Emphasized on counselors, social workers, etc., but applies the same for educators.
Mindful Schools: Recent research about vicarious trauma and educators.
NEA Today: Recent article on vicarious trauma and educators.
Harvard College of Education: Article about supporting teachers navigating trauma and vicarious trauma
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): “Counselors not cops” initiative. Collaboration between ACLU and the California Association of School Counselors (CASC) to bring more school counselors and mental health support to schools. The primary goal is to fight the school to prison pipeline, but a good way to advocate for support in schools both for students and staff.