Adapting a European Experiential Training Program for Settlement Workers at Risk of Vicarious Trauma and Burnout

Professor Susan McGrath

Funded by York International

This proposal addresses the intercultural and intersocietal encounters strategy of the internationalization of York University. The goal is to improve the settlement experience of traumatized refugees and immigrants in Canada with the development of a training program for agency staff and government officials who work with them. The plan is to run a pilot of a successful training program developed in Europe by Dr. Lilla Hardi, a psychiatrist with the Cordelia Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims in Hungary, with workers in agencies in the settlement sector in the Toronto area. The intercultural format is appropriate to the racial, ethnic and language diversity of Toronto and the process will allow further adaptation to local needs. By supporting the settlement of traumatized newcomers, the project helps to implement York’s commitment to social justice and equity. The training module will improve the capacity of York’s social work students to work with refugees and immigrants who have experienced trauma. York also has an opportunity to provide professional training to interested workers in the settlement sector, the Immigration and Refugee Board and related fields. Sustainability of the program will be ensured with the development of a non-degree course in York’s Department of Continuing Education.

There has been much concern by researchers and practitioners alike regarding the emotional impact of working with victims of trauma on those in the social services or so-called “helping professions”, as well as on those who decide the fate of these individuals, and it has been widely accepted that interaction with victims of traumatic exposure places people at high risk of secondary exposure (Stamm et al. 2003). Classical burnout theory such as work by Maslach (1982) defines burnout syndrome as a pattern of emotional overload and subsequent emotional exhaustion, characterized by depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment as a response to the chronic emotional strain of dealing extensively with other human beings, particularly when they are troubled or having problems.

The terms “compassion fatigue” (Figley,1995) and “secondary traumatic stress” (Figley, 1995; Stamm, 1999) have been used interchangeably to denote a syndrome of symptoms nearly identical to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder except that exposure to a traumatizing event experienced by one person becomes a traumatizing event for the second person (Stamm, 1999). Finally, the majority of studies in this area have used the term vicarious trauma which has been defined as “the transformation that occurs in the inner experience of the therapist that comes about as a result of empathic engagements with clients’ trauma material” (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995, p.31).

Initially developed as a treatment program for survivors of torture and trauma (Hardi and Erdos, 1998), Dr. Hardi has been using the group process with the staff of the refugee camps and the immigration processing centres, as well as with government officials across Europe. The outcome has been higher retention of staff, improved decision-making on the part if the immigration officials and higher acceptances of refugee/asylum claims (Hardi, forthcoming). Dr. Hardi has also reported consequent improvements in how refugees are generally treated and supported by staff after staff have experienced this process on an ongoing basis (once a month for an extended period). We are proposing to bring Dr. Hardi to Toronto for a period of three weeks for the demonstration of her technique with interested York faculty, agency staff and community health professionals. Dr. Hardi visited Toronto in October and met with local agencies and with the Director of CRS. As a result, the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT), Catholic Cross-Cultural Services, Sojourn House and Culturelink, all non-profit agencies serving newcomers including refugees in Toronto are interested in participating in this program. They are potential sites for the pilot project and for ongoing sites of practical training for students.

The Centre for Refugee Studies will work with Dr. Hardi and the participants in the pilot project in the development of a training program relevant to local needs. Agency staff and administrators, government officials in immigration and settlement, and health professionals such as psychiatrists will be invited to attend and/or respond to the program. Feedback from participants will be incorporated into a training module relevant to the Toronto context. Graduate students will assist in recording the responses of the participants and their recommendations and in the development of a proposal for a training module. The participating agencies will review the proposal to ensure it is responsive to their needs. The Director of the Centre who is also a faculty member of the School of Social Work will work with colleagues there to incorporate the training module into the curriculum of practice courses in the BSW and MSW programs of the School. The Centre for Refugee Studies will also explore with the Department of Continuing Education the development of a non-degree course for workers at risk of vicarious trauma and burnout. While the initial focus is in the settlement sector, there could be further applications to others working with people who have experienced trauma including teachers, emergency health workers, Children’s Aid workers, and the staff of hostels serving women who have experienced violence. The program will also be of interest to other international research centres concerned about refugees and those who have experienced forced migration. York has an opportunity to provide leadership in the experiential training of front line workers in the settlement sector and immigration and refugee processing field to avoid vicarious trauma and burnout, promote worker retention and well-being as well as improve the overall treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in Canada.