Vicarious traumatisation, also referred to as compassion fatigue, can be experienced when one witnesses or knows about the trauma experienced by significant others.It is well recognised as a phenomenon experienced by a wide range of health professionals. Vicarious traumatisation, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress and burnout all sit within a spectrum of processes which can adversely affect staff in a variety of ways.This presentation will describe these constructs and the way experiences of them can affect staff, and briefly describe a variety of protective processes.The role that resilience plays in managing the effects of these stressors will be explored. A link to the suffering that can occur when one experiences disenfranchised grief (the grief felt when the loss is not, or cannot be acknowledged) will be discussed.

Recording from 26.10.17