The Effectiveness of Self-Induced Unclassified Therapeutic Tremor for Decreasing Secondary Traumatic Stress among Social Workers

Secondary traumatic stress symptoms are marked by the emergence of traumatic memories experienced by otherpeople, rejection of the stimulus that triggers traumatic memories, and emotional turmoil. If left untreated, it maylower the quality of service and health of social workers. To lower secondary traumatic stress symptoms, it isnecessary to deliver psychological treatment that can be easily and independently done, is effective and cost-efficient, and universal. As such, Therapeutic Tremor Exercises through Self-Induction are consideredappropriate to respond to this need. This study aims to identify the effect of self-induced unclassified therapeutictremor exercises on reducing secondary traumatic stress levels. This study hypothesizes that there will bedifferences in secondary traumatic stress levels among social workers before and after samples are given self-induced therapeutic tremor exercises. Subjects consisted of female social workers (n = 5) who were indirectlyexposed to traumatic stories of victims for at least 2 hours a week. The study used a single-group pre-post designby comparing secondary trauma stress levels before and after the intervention. The intervention was a one-dayjoint training and 14-day independent training. Wilcoxon’s signed-rank test showed significant differences withZ = -2.023, p = .043, whereby secondary trauma stress levels prior to the intervention (M = 45.4) was higher thanafter the intervention (M = 26.2).

The factors of compassion fatigue among guidance counsellors

The research was about the compassion fatigue and its contributing factors in guidance counsellors. The sample for the study was 92 guidance counsellors. This study explored factors of compassion fatigue, work-related factors, personality traits and demographic factors utilising the following instruments: professional quality of life scale (ProQOLs), NEO PI-R and demographic questionnaire. The context for the study was different schools in Central Luzon – Region 3, Philippines. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression stepwise method were utilised in the study. Findings indicated that participants had low levels of burnout and low levels of secondary trauma stress as elements of compassion fatigue. Personality traits of the participants identified include low levels of neuroticism, average levels of extraversion, average levels of openness to experience, high level of agreeableness and high levels of conscientiousness. Multiple regression stepwise method confirmed that the personality traits neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness predict burnout with a variability of 40%. Likewise, salary as work-related factor also predicts burnout with a variability of 4.7%. Similarly, personality trait neuroticism is confirmed to predict secondary trauma stress with a variability of 21.9%. Based on the two elements of compassion fatigue, neuroticism was found out to be the best predictor among the personality traits. Keywords: burnout; compassion fatigue; guidance counsellors; secondary traumatic stress;