Trauma-Informed Ethics: Relational-Cultural Theory and Implications for Helping Provider Health and Well-being

People who are attracted and motivated to work in the helping professions often have the desire to help others. There is an urgency in the responses in behavioral healthcare and sometimes long hours of listening to clients’ traumatic experiences. An increased exposure to traumatic experiences and the urgency to respond can take a toll on the providers. Knowingly or unknowingly, these exposures can cause the helping provider to experience secondary feelings of loss, emptiness, and/or hurt, and can lead to exhaustion and fatigue. The purpose of this chapter is to aid helping professionals to recognize the impact of working with survivors of trauma and adversity on their own health and well-being. Readers will gain an improved understanding of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout among helping professionals and analyze the engagement in reflective practices using the relational-cultural theoretical framework. Additionally, this chapter will also provide recommendations for preventing vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout using trauma-informed ethical decision-making.