Vicarious trauma refers to the negative changes that occur in healthcare professionals that fundamentally shake their beliefs about themselves, others and the worldview. Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma occur in healthcare professionals with repeated exposure to their patients with a traumatic experience. One of these professions is occupational therapy, which turns out to be one of the most stressful professions in healthcare. The treatment of burnout and stress is well researched among many health professions, while the field of occupational therapy remains open and essential to study. In the framework of the master's thesis, we investigated the experience of vicarious trauma and stress in working with traumatized people in the field of occupational therapy. The research is based on a phenomenological approach, as we studied the personal experiences of occupational therapists; we conducted six semi-structured interviews. The results showed the profound consequences of working with the traumatized. Occupational therapists notice changes in emotions, physical symptoms, experiences of oneself, the world, and others; exposure to indirect trauma leaves its mark on the healthcare professional. Participants identify both positive and negative aspects. They face increased stress, irritability, decreased concentration, feelings of loss of control, exhausting compassion, and over identification, while gaining wisdom, feeling gratitude, becoming aware of their own happiness, and deepening interpersonal relationships. The findings show working time, experience and parenting as factors influencing the formation of an individual’s response to traumatic material. Coping strategies are expressed as relieving conversations and discussions with co-workers and relatives, self-care and supervision. The verbalization of heavy feelings and time for oneself are crucial for the regeneration of the psychophysical state of the occupational therapist when working with traumatized patients. Despite the perceived benefits, supervision is still unavailable in many areas of occupational therapy. Participants attribute the reason to lack of time, staff and lack of understanding the importance of supervision.
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