Although behavioral health professionals can suffer from secondary trauma, their personal strengths may also combat their work fatigue. Professionals working in the child welfare arena hear frequent stories of a youth’s trauma, which can affect their mental well-being and leave them wanting to avoid work. The current stress of COVID, as a crossover trauma, has had long-lasting effects on professionals due to changing work conditions and hybrid vs. in-person settings. Finally, the impact of greater demands to “do more with less” leaves workers wanting to leave the field.
For employers, training employees to evaluate their work-life balance and make changes leads to healthy work engagement. According to a 2017 article by Don-Jin Lee and M. Joseph Sirgy, workers can develop balance in their workplace and personal life by integrating using personal strengths from one area and placing them in the other. This concept is called spillover versus compensation. The idea is that the “work-life balance is achieved when “individuals experience spillover (positive affect from one life domain contributes to positive affect in another and vice versa) and compensation (negative affect in one domain may cause the individual to enhance positive affect in another domain and vice versa).” For example, take the concept of conflict resolution. Suppose a worker has expertise in their professional life handling conflicts. They are a therapist who deals with managing family conflicts throughout the day with their clients. Their ability to view both sides of the problem gives them a picture of how to do the same in their personal life. Thus, they can provide their professional perspective at home as a positive contributor to disagreements. This can reduce the stress and secondary trauma occurring at work.
Another area of difficulty Lee and Sirgy discussed is social relationships. It is common for workers to be socially interactive at work yet have difficulty making connections with others in their personal life. Sometimes this is due to their fears of meeting people and being hurt or manipulated. However, the skill of assertion (i.e., treating others with respect and as equals) as a personal strength at work also translates to the same skills in their private interactions with friends, family, and relationships.
Most importantly, the professional needs to increase those parts of their life that they find enriching personally and professionally. As an example, the electronic health record was supposed to reduce documentation for professionals, but this technology has not decreased the paperwork drain. Clinicians came into behavioral health to be with clients, not spend time on “paperwork.” Although it is necessary to document the details between client and clinician, the agency needs to find ways to assist the clinician in balancing their time through training, reducing forms, and simplifying the documentation process. Even paperwork can impact an employee's secondary trauma.
These techniques taken together can improve the quality of life for employees and lead to higher retention. Through using personal strengths, the professional and their agency engage employees more in the work they love.
Got questions? We've got answers.
PRAXES is a nationwide behavioral health software, consulting, and training company. No one in the behavioral health industry has a better reputation, and if you give us the chance, we’ll show you why! At PRAXES, our services improve the efficiency and structure of behavioral health agencies serving children and families nationwide. PRAXES brings over 45 years of administrative and clinical expertise. With more than 100 client companies nationwide, we offer the expertise to advance the quality of behavioral health services. We accomplish these goals through our new clinical decision software, our training of best practices, and helping companies meet regulatory standards. At PRAXES, we believe in being creative and fostering new ways to serve children and their families. Our vision is to empower the families our agencies serve with skills that not only improve their functioning, but help them to thrive in their everyday lives. When you give us the chance, you’ll be connected directly to our friendly staff, so you can expect immediate attention to your inquiry. So, don’t wait, call now!
Dan Thorne has unique perspectives on the field of mental health. As a clinician, he has had over 40 years of experience working with clients in the Southern California area. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Irvine, he worked with children in the Orange County Juvenile Hall. Here he honed his earliest techniques on at-risk children. After that, he obtained his Master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Fullerton.
In the 1990’s, Dan turned his attention to the clinical and administrative side of behavioral health organizations. For three years, he was the Assistant Administrator of Starting Point, a chemical dependency facility in Costa Mesa, CA. In 2001, he took an opportunity to be the Director of Harbor View Community Services Center in Long Beach. When he arrived, the Center had only 80 clients and 13 staff. When he left, there were over 400 clients and 75 staff. Dan created several programs through their contract with the Los Angeles County Departments of Mental Health and Child and Family Services. Under his guidance, Harbor View became one of the leading providers of children’s services in Los Angeles County.
While improving the results of the client’s parents at the Center, Dan reflected on his experiences as a parent. His children themselves had special needs such as mental and intellectual challenges, and Dan knew the toll it takes on the parent. In order to help the child, the parent has to be healthy. From this concept, he created his parenting program. After years of refining it, teaching it to his staff at the Center, and then taking the results and comments from these efforts, he became the developer of the current PRAXES program. It is a culmination of Dan’s personal trials and tribulations as a parent along with empirical results and research of over 40 parenting programs.
Our vision at PRAXES is to advance the strength of parents and caregivers of children with special needs (mental health, intellectual, or physical) through education, support, and empowerment. Thus, they can live healthy and functional lives while caring for the child.
Apogee is a clinical decision software designed to help behavioral health practitioners with their treatment and patient engagement. It provides evidence-based and research-based components. Not only do they consist of elements from such practices as Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Seeking Safety, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Functional Behavior Analysis, but also the Intensive Models for Parents, Youth, and Children.
PRAXES has over 30 years of accreditation experience. We know what it takes to get your organization accredited. Whether it’s Joint Commission, CARF, or COA, our team can provide an evaluation of your current status and review the standards which need improvements. We will assist you with the policies, documentation, and training required to be accredited.
All Rights Reserved | Praxes