ABSTRACT
Workers in mental health settings are exposed to stories of distress and trauma on a regular basis. The role requires careful listening, compassion, and skillful relationship-building to create safety and trust. Workers might also experience physical, emotional, and psychological responses that mirror the symptoms their clients are reporting. The impacts of trauma and the risks of vicarious trauma and burnout for workers are well documented but there is now a growing interest in the role of vicarious posttraumatic growth (vPTG). Research shows that witnessing posttraumatic growth (PTG) in clients provides opportunities for workers to experience vPTG themselves. This chapter discusses integrative approaches to therapy that intentionally position workers to collaborate with clients to achieve this, alongside supervision models that maximize opportunities for vPTG. Where trauma-informed therapy, neuropsychology, and cognitive and behavioral therapies are evidence-based approaches to symptom reduction, a salutogenic approach would also explore meaning-making, personal narratives, and the socio-political contexts of trauma and healing. This chapter presents the case that humanistic, collaborative, and constructionist therapies are compatible with a salutogenic model not just for clients but also for mental health professionals. By taking a meta position, professionals are invited to notice what they are listening for and to integrate techniques and processes that make visible evidence of posttraumatic growth in clients to experience those reciprocal benefits as vPTG.
