ABSTRACT
This book has given the first comprehensive account of trauma, resilience, and posttraumatic growth across a wide range of frontline professional and volunteer occupations and frontline and high-risk work contexts. The individual chapters covering the different occupations and contexts have outlined the core elements of these important work roles as well as challenges and opportunities in providing frontline staff with adequate support mechanisms to achieve high levels of mental health and enhance their capacity for professional and personal growth. A number of things have become obvious across the various chapters, such as how uneven research has been within these occupations. For example, there is considerably more research that has been conducted about the mental health of law enforcement officers and nurses compared to emergency dispatchers and child protection workers. This has effectively silenced the voices of those in the latter occupations. Many of the occupations and contexts covered in this text have not traditionally been included in frontline or high-risk occupations, yet the chapters are very clear that all belong in that category. However, the text is not exhaustive in that regard and it could be argued, especially following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that other professions should join this rank, including teachers and pharmacists.
