Counselors who work with victims of domestic violence are often deeply touched by the stories of danger, and psychological and physical vulnerabilities, that they are exposed to because of their work, which can also affect various aspects of their lives. In the master’s thesis, we examined lived experiences of counselors, who work with victims of domestic violence, and examined how they cope with stress they experience in their work. A qualitative method of semi-structured interview was used. The counselors’ answers were also interpreted in the context of positive and negative effects of vicarious exposure to trauma. The sample included 20 female counselors of different professional profiles, employed in various governmental and non-governmental organizations, who work directly with victims of domestic violence. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis method, which revealed 7 themes: psychological and physical effects of work, changing the world and oneself, the belief ‘the world is dangerous’, separation of responsibility, sensibility to relationships with others, conscious self-care, and formal and informal support within the organization. The themes revealed that participants showed negative effects of exposure to vicarious trauma, that is vicarious trauma and burnout, but also positive effects of exposure to vicarious trauma, that is vicarious posttraumatic growth, compassion satisfaction and vicarious resilience. We found that within their organizations, participants perceive a high level of support, which, according to research, is positively related to vicarious resilience. This points to good practice within governmental and non-governmental organizations that employ them. Our research has contributed to small number of studies, that focus exclusively on the experiences of counselors working with victims of domestic violence and interpret them within the framework of general field of psychological trauma.
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