Secondary traumatic stress experiences of professionals working with women who suffered violence

Traumatic experiences negatively affect the professionals who are indirectly acquainted with the traumatic experiences and who are helping, as well as directly affecting the traumatized person. Secondary traumatic stress episodes can reduce the quality of their services as well as affect the personal lives of professionals who have intense relationships with trauma victims due to their work. Moreover, the indirect effects of the traumatic experiences that are encountered weaken the psychological, physical and social well-being of the professionals, and reduce the professional satisfaction and productivity they receive from their work. Professionals working with violent women (social workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, sociologists, etc.) are among the people in the risk group due to secondary traumatic stress life. The profound effects of this work on the profession of professionals working with violent women who are exposed to traumatic life experiences are an in-depth investigation of the experiences of secondary traumatic stress and the factors that may affect it. In line with this main objective, in-depth interviews were conducted with 17 professionals working in the field of violence against women using semi-structured interview guidelines. In the analysis of the interviews, "N-Vivo 11" qualitative data analysis program was used. The categories created by the researcher were transferred to the N-Vivo program. Themes composed according to these categories gathered basically together under four titles. These titles are; working with violence against women (evaluation of professional functions, feelings of feelings when working in the field of violence against women, positive and negative aspects); experiencing violence, witnessing, and personal influences (experiences of violence by professionals, frequency of witnessing violence, reflection of the violence they witness in their private life); case studies of professionals (empathic obligation of the cases, need to share feelings, family, friends and colleagues); the services needed (past and in-service training, support and supervision). Professionals working in the field of violence against women have not received supervision or any professional support and have frequently experienced secondary traumatic stress in the interviews. It has been seen that professionals reflect negatively on their personal lives and family, that they have changed their attitudes towards the neighborhood and men, that they are carrying the empathic obligations of the cases they are working on, and that they need to share. Apart from this, it has also emerged that the professionals need extra support such as social support and supervision. Services that must be presented to professionals; peer supervision in the form of individual or group work, methods of coping, methods of self-protection, personal bodily awareness for self-care, physical exercises, protection of the personal space, supervision, pre-training and in-service training, professional meetings, workshops, seminars, support groups, as activities to be organized outside the province. Key Words: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Professionals, Experiences