My Time with Alice: Vicarious Trauma and Compassion Fatigue Within Clinicians Working with Human Trafficking Victims

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the patterns and signs of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue among clinicians who counsel sex trafficking victims. Specifically, this qualitative study seeks to understand the lived experience of clinicians by examining phenomenological patterns and signs of trauma and compassion fatigue that commonly arise when working with victims of sex trafficking. In this study, vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue is defined generally as the trauma and fatigue experienced by clinicians working with human trafficking victims. The research will include an IPA study of four clinicians in which the researcher remains bracketed from the phenomenon. The results are intended to help the reader to understand how to identify potential signs of VT and CF in the clinician, as well as to inform the development of future research.