Burnout and Trauma in Social Work

Burnout and Trauma in Social Work

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Burnout and Trauma in Social Work

3.         Accordingly, three forms of burnout exist depending on the type of worker. The first one comprises the overload burnout. This condition usually rises from frantic working until the individual experiences an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Overload burnout is mainly attributed to the need for the individual to prove himself or herself within an organization. In such situations, people tend to implement lofty expectations in relation to the duties and obligations they are required to perform. Therefore, in order to gratify such anticipations, the respective individuals concentrate solely on work and assume considerable workload than they usually do. The main symptom that arises from overload burnout comprises fatigue due to long working hours. The second burnout variant, under-challenged burnout arises from insufficient personal development and boredom. In this context, the affected individuals lack the drive to prove themselves. Symptoms such as depression are largely evident among the victims. Lastly, the worn-out burnout mainly comprises the exhaustion that arises from surrendering especially when faced with stress. The major impact of this variant comprises insufficient coping specifically in copying with other members of the organization. Undeniably, burnout is more likely to affect social workers significantly. This is due to the stress inflicted upon them by their works. For instance, social workers may experience burnout sentimentally in the event that one of their clients fails to become better. In order to prevent burnout, social workers can engage in various strategies. Through problem-oriented coping, workers can cope with issues of burnout by concentrating on the sources of their stress. Aside from this strategy, social support can also act as a strong tactic in lessening the burnout for social workers. Establishing a supportive network or setting can mediate the deleterious effects of burnout for them.

4.         Trauma informed care mainly comprises the expectations within behavioral health structures. Simply, the term describes an organizational configuration and treatment frame that comprises the comprehension, identification, and response to the implications that every form of trauma may impose on the affected individual. Aside from this, trauma informed care also places emphasis on emotional, psychological, and physical safety for the provider and the consumer. For the client, trauma may constitute a form of damage to his or her psyche based on a severe event that he or she faced. However, the extents to which his or her traumatic experiences affect him or her are unique if compared to another person. This is mainly due to the varying impact that a distressing experience may cause on an individual. Social care workers commonly encounter individuals affected severely with trauma. Moreover, social work, based on its definition, has consistently involved working closely with vulnerable and defenseless patients. Because of this, the need to actualize this intervention is important especially for social workers due to the type of patients they experience on a daily basis. As such, trauma informed care could assist social workers in executing adequate and fulfilling responses to patients suffering from exposure to chronic experiences such as abuse, neglect, or even calamities such as hurricanes or school shootings. The fundamental psychological impact of trauma evokes a complete distortion of innocence. Accordingly, trauma influences the affected individual to lose faith in the existence of safety, predictability or nuance in the society or world he or she occupies. Since traumatic events cannot be processed by the body or mind, they cannot undergo integration, and consequently, prevent the individual from experiencing a normal life specifically through immense stress. Hence, some of the behaviors that result from trauma comprise post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), anxiety disorder, survivor’s guilt, substance abuse, psychosis, depression and personality disorders.