TRAUMATOLOGY

Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 3
An Exploration of Counselling Identity in Counsellors who deal with Trauma

Selwyn Black, B.Ed., M.Sc.

Peter Weinreich, Ph.D.


Abstract


This research explored some of the ways in which counsellors construct their identity when, in the aftermath of a traumatic event, they are exposed to the trauma of their clients. The research investigated the impact of counselling traumatised victims and the possible resulting experience of ‘vicarious traumatisation’ on the sense of identity on those counsellors using Identity Structure Analysis. Semi-structured informal interviews together with IDEX (Identity Exploration for Windows, V3.0) were used to analyse the issues of the impact of vicarious traumatisation on respondents’ interpersonal relationships, the reverberation between previous traumatic experiences on current therapeutic practice, and how the respondents’ professional orientation with regard to belief and value systems was influenced upon exposure to the trauma of their clients. The results show that vicarious traumatisation has a marked impact on both empathetic and conflicted identifications, that previous traumatic experiences have both positive and negative influences on current therapeutic practice, and that counsellors are likely to experience shifts in their belief and value systems as a consequence of trauma’s after-shocks. The results have implications for the caring professions, counsellors who are involved in trauma work, and managers who have responsibility for the supervision and care of trauma counsellors.


An Exploration of Counselling Identity in Counsellors who deal with Trauma

Counsellors bring the instrument of themselves into the therapeutic setting. "To every therapy session we bring our human qualities and the experiences that have influenced us most. …this human dimension is one of the most powerful determinants of the therapeutic encounter that we have with clients" (Corey, 1996, p.15). In bringing the instrument of self before clients, Counsellors bring the living models of who they are alongside the continual struggle to live up to their aspirations. This research explored some of the ways in which counsellors construct their identity when, in the aftermath of a traumatic event, they are exposed to the trauma of their clients.

On 15 August 1998, a car bomb exploded in the provincial town of Omagh, County Tyrone, killing 28 people immediately – one died subsequently from injuries. More than 200 people were injured. "It was the worst single atrocity in the thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland" (Fay et al., 1999a. p. 18). The first author was given access to a team of counsellors who were involved in counselling survivors and others affected by the Omagh bomb. The research investigated the impact that vicarious traumatisation had on the sense of identity on those counsellors using Identity Structure Analysis (Weinreich, 1980, 1983, 1986, 1989). In the ‘Cost of the Troubles Study’, Fayet al., report that "although there has been some investigation of the impact of the ‘troubles’ on attitudes and moral development, there has been remarkably little consistent interest in the specific mental health or other effects of the ‘troubles’ on the population" (Fayet al., 1999b, p. 13). While there has been some research conducted on the psychological consequences on various sub populations, none could be found on the psychological impact on the caring professions either in the literature or in consultation with professionals working in the field of traumatology in Northern Ireland.

"Working with seriously traumatised clients has consequences for the personal functioning of the counsellor" (Veer, 1998, p.168). Those consequences may range from empathic reactions during the counselling contact in the short term to altering how the counsellor views himself or herself, the world and human nature in the long term. "A positive value is often placed on ‘feeling what the other person feels’ without considering that such feelings can produce the emotional exhaustion of burnout when experienced over and over, week in and week out, with a variety of people" (Maslach, 1982, p. 32). Further, it has been recognised more recently amongst counsellors that "those who have enormous capacity for feeling and expressing empathy tend to be more at risk of compassion stress" (Figley, 1995, p. 1).

The psychological consequences of working with ‘difficult populations’ are often discussed under the term ‘burnout’ (Maslach, 1982). More recently, the term burnout has been superseded by the term ‘compassion fatigue’ (Joinson, 1992). However, these terms describe the most acute and unfavourable consequences of working with difficult populations in general terms. The psychodynamic concepts of transference and counter-transference describe the counsellor’s emotional reactions within the therapeutic encounter that may interfere with the therapist’s objectivity. While these concepts direct attention to the counsellor’s internal world, they are limited to the drives and impulses within the therapeutic relationship. They offer little explanation for the affront to the sense of self experienced by the therapists of the traumatised who experience "a change in their interaction with the world, themselves, and their families" (Cerney, 1995, p.).

The concept of vicarious traumatisation was first introduced by McCann and Pearlman (1990a) who provided a theoretical framework for understanding the complex and sometimes distressing effects of trauma work on the therapist. "The concept is based in constructivist self-development theory, a developmental, interpersonal theory explicating the impact of trauma on an individual’s psychological development, adaptation, and identity" (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995, p. 152). Just as trauma changes its victims, counsellors who work with the survivors of traumatic events too may find themselves permanently altered by the experience. "These alterations include shifts in the therapist’s identity and world view" (Pearlman and Saakvitne, 1995, p.152). Munroe et al. have described vicarious traumatisation as an "occupational hazard" for those who work with the traumatised (Munroe et al., 1995, p.211). This research examines the ways in which vicarious traumatisation disrupts self in terms of (a) interpersonal relationships, (b) the pervasion of previous traumatic experiences, and (c) belief and value systems.

Identity Structure Analysis

Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) is a theoretical orientation used to analyse identity formation developed by Weinreich (1980, 1983, 1986, 1989). ISA explores the identity of individuals in relation to their social world. "Weinreich’s perspective on identity views the person as a total entity, possessing a sense of self and identity situated in time and developing over time, through interaction and identification with others" (Phoenix, 1994, p.44). ISA is "an open-ended metatheoretical framework of concepts and postulates about content, structure and process relating to identity" (Weinreich, 1985a, 1986a). ISA draws upon concepts in the psychodynamic approach, social comparison theory, reference group theory, symbolic interactionism, personal construct theory and cognitive-affective consistency theory. Weinreich submits the following definition of identity based on those of Erikson (1963) and Laing (1961) that emphasises continuity and gives central place to the process of construal:

"One’s identity is defined as the totality of one’s self-construal, in which how one construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in the future" (Weinreich, 1969, 1980, 1989a).

ISA is operationalised for empirical work using customised identity instruments with the aid of IDEX for Windows (V3.0) (Weinreich and Ewart, 1999) (IDEX = identity exploration) which incorporates the above theoretical positions, and can either be presented as a pencil and paper instrument or be completed at a computer. ISA parameters are formulated algebraically with explicitly defined psychological concepts, for some of which the algorithms use Boolean algebra. "One of the strengths of this approach lies in the fact that the psychological concepts elucidating structure and process of identity are pre-defined and do not use crude post-hoc interpretations" (Weinreich, 1999).

Within ISA, the concept of identification is explicated in two modes of identification: empathetic identification and role model identification. "Empathetic identification with another refers to the degree of perceived similarity between the characteristics, whether good or bad, of that other and oneself" (Weinreich, 1989a, p.52). On the other hand, "one’s role model identification refers to the degree to which one might wish to emulate another when the other is a positive role model (idealistic identification), or dissociate from the other when a negative role model (contra identification)" (Weinreich, 1989a, p.52). Weinreich further elaborates the distinction between the two modes: "…the role model identification mode refers to one’s orientations in terms of aspirations and dissociations (the mode of wishing to emulate and wishing to dissociate to varying degrees), and the empathetic identification mode, situated from moment to moment in differing social contexts, refers to the de facto state of affinity with another of the current moment (the mode of being as the one or the other to varying degrees, at this moment now, or in this or that context, or doing this or that activity, and so on)" (Weinreich, 1989b, p.224).

Conflicted identifications occur when one simultaneously sees oneself as similar to another and recognises that other as having characteristics from which one wishes to dissociate. In relation to process postulates concerning attempted resolution of identification conflicts and the emergence of new identifications, ISA presents the following postulates (Weinreich 1989a, p.53):

Postulate 1 – When one’s identifications with others are conflicted, one attempts to resolve the conflicts, thereby inducing re-evaluations of self in relation to the others within the limitations of one’s currently existing value system.

Postulate 2 – When one forms further identifications with newly encountered individuals, one broadens one’s value system and establishes a new context for one’s self-definition, thereby initiating a reappraisal of self and others which is dependent of fundamental changes in one’s value system.

These process postulates are of direct importance in the context of this research where the resolution of past conflicts and the possible generation of new current conflicts are tracked as respondents appraise themselves in relation to the impact of a traumatic incident on the respondent’s sense of identity.

In the ISA definition of identity above, a central place is give to the person’s construal of self. Constructs, which are cognitive in form, are used to evaluate the characteristics of self and others. Affective associations are considered in the evaluative connotations of the cognitive constructs both in terms of the positive values (aspirations) and negative values (those from which one wishes to dissociate). Structural pressure is an ISA index that estimates the extent to which individuals consistently attribute favourable and unfavourable characteristics to particular entities. In relation to cognitive affective consistency and the structural pressure on constructs, ISA presents the following postulates (Weinreich 1989a, pp. 55-56):

Postulate 1 - When the net structural pressure on one of a person’s constructs is high and positive, the evaluative connotations associated with it are stably bound.

Postulate 2 – When the net structural pressure on a construct is low, or negative as a result of strong negative pressures counteracting positive ones, the evaluative connotations associated with the constructs are conflicted: the construct in question is an arena of stress.

Postulate 3 – When the net structural pressure on a construct is low as a result of weak positive and negative pressures, the construct in question is without strong evaluative connotations.

In the context of this research, as ISA identifies the strength and intensity of one’s core evaluative dimensions of identity, the professional orientation of respondents is examined in relation to both their core and conflicted evaluative dimensions of identity. 

Method

The target group comprised of a team of counsellors who were involved in caring for the survivors of the Omagh Bomb. The group represented a range of professional backgrounds, each having substantial training and experience both as counsellors and professionals who had been trained in the techniques of the Mitchell (1983, and Mitchell and Everly, 1987) Critical Incident Stress Debriefing process. The target group participated in an ISA instrument designed to be of direct significance to the respondents. The instrument incorporated ‘entities’ (Table 1) from the social world of the self – individuals, groups of people, institutions and emblems that have significance to the respondent, and ‘constructs’ (Table 2) which were based on discourses by means of which the respondent appraised this social world. Each respondent also took part in a 25 – 40 minute semi-structured informal interview.

Table 1. Entity List – Instrument: Trauma Counsellors Project

Entities

Categories 

1. Me as I would like to be…
*IDEAL SELF
2. Me as I am at home…
*CURRENT SELF 1
3. Me as I am when counselling currently…
CURRENT SELF 2
4. Me as I was in childhood…
*PAST SELF 1
5. Me as I was before the Omagh bomb…
PAST SELF 2
6. Me as I was in the short-term aftermath of the Omagh bomb…
PAST SELF 3
7. Me as I was facing the long-term consequences after the Omagh bomb…
PAST SELF 4
8. Me as I was as a result of being involved in previous traumatic experiences…
PAST SELF 4
9. Me as my family sees me…
METAPERSPECTIVE 1
10. Me as my professional colleagues see me…
METAPERSPECTIVE 2
11. Me as my supervisor sees me…
METAPERSPECTIVE 3
12. A person I hold in high regard (nominate)…
*ADMIRED PERSON
13. A person who offends me (nominate)…
*DISLIKED PERSON
14. Father…
15. Mother…
16. Spouse/Partner…
17. My closest friend…
18. Counselling supervisor…
19. A responsive client (nominate)…
20. A difficult client (nominate)…
21. A traumatised client (nominate)…
Data from the target group were obtained within the period of one calendar month from the beginning of the tenth month after the Omagh bomb. Data obtained through completed instruments was analysed using IDEX for Windows (V3.0) software (Weinreich and Ewart, 1999). The transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis and narrative analysis techniques.

 

Table 2. Construct List – Instrument: Trauma Counsellors Project

Construct List

Trauma Counsellors Project

1. …can be trusted
…can’t be trusted
2. …attend/s to personal needs first
…put/s others needs first
3. …like/s me
…dislike/s me
4. …put/s family before vocation
…put/s vocation before family
5. …look/s for security in family relationships
…has/have loose family ties
6. …prefer/s company of known and trusted friends
…enjoy/s making new friends
7. …adapt/s easily to change
…find/s change difficult
8. …get/s things done
…put/s things off
9. …would become quite closely involved with clients
…prefer/s to maintain a professional distance
10. …see/s themselves as a ‘fixer’ in helping resolve client’s psychological needs
…prefer/s to be a ‘facilitator’ in assisting clients finding their own solutions
11. …enjoy/s the intimacy of a close relationship
…find/s intimacy in a close relationship difficult
12. …look/s to leisure activities as a means of self-care
…find/s difficulty breaking away from work issues
13. …believe/s that the world is a safe and secure place
…believe/s the world is unsafe and threatening
14. …prefer/s to ‘feel’ the client’s trauma
…seek/s to ‘understand’ the client’s trauma
15. …is/are dependent on others in making decisions
…prefer/s to work things out alone
16. …is/are impervious to others suffering
…become/s overwhelmed by others suffering
17. …is/are over-sensitive about what others think
…is/are able to laugh at themselves
18. …take/s themselves seriously
…has/have a relaxed attitude to life
19. …look/s for support from relevant professional bodies
…is/are cynical about relevant professional bodies
20. …draw/s upon one’s personal trauma experience while counselling clients
…is/are concerned to suppress feelings in order to be strong for the clients
21. …feel/s aggressive towards the perpetrator of the bomb
…feel/s compassion for the perpetrator of the bomb
22. …is/are able to disengage from the traumatised client
…remain/s engaged with the traumatised client
23. …need/s to be up to date with media coverage
…feel/s that "I know all that I want to know"
A control group of counsellors was set up to establish a comparison between a group of counsellors who had worked within the context of a specific traumatic incident and a group of counsellors who had no direct exposure to that incident. It was postulated that, from a comparison between the two groups, the effects of vicarious traumatisation on the research group could be established. The control group represented counsellors who came from similar professional backgrounds to that of the target group and had similar levels of training supported by substantial therapeutic experience.
Results

The results, presented as case studies, were all idiosyncratic in nature. The case studies exemplify the complex of processes by means of which respondents construct and reconstruct their identities when, in their counselling practice, they are exposed to the traumatised. The case studies are not published here (a) to preserve the anonymity of the respondents and (b) because the researcher is continuing a longitudinal study with the respondents. However, "the nature of ISA indices makes it possible to perform comparisons between individuals, however idiosyncratic the material from which the indices are derived might be" (Lange, 1989, p.170).

The classification of identity variants is based exclusively on the underlying parameters of identity diffusion and self-evaluation and is therefore global in nature. The classification of nine identity variants draws on Erikson’s states of ‘identity achievement’ and ‘identity diffusion’, and also on Marcia’s (1966, 1980) four identity statuses (Table 3).

Table 3. Classification of Identity Variants

Classification of Identity Variants

IDENTITY DIFFUSION
High

(0.41 -100)

Moderate

(0.26 - 0.40)

Low

(0.00 - 0.25)

SELF - EVALUATION
High 

(0.81-1.00)

Diffuse high self-regard
Confident
Defensive high self-regard
Moderate

(0.19-0.80)

Diffusion
Indeterminate
Defensive
Low

(-1.00-0.18)

Crisis
Negative
Defensive negative

Generally, most adults are classified as ‘indeterminate’ or ‘confident’ (Weinreich, 1983b, 1985b). They reflect moderate levels of identity diffusion with moderate or high levels of self-evaluation and are considered to be psychologically well adjusted. Other identity states are regarded as vulnerable.

A comparison between the two groups reveals a higher extent of vulnerable identities in the respondents’ appraisals across both past and current selves in the target group (44%) (Table 4) than in the control group (26%) (Table 5). A comparison between the two groups reveals a higher extent of vulnerable identities in the respondents’ appraisals of their current selves in the target group (45%) than in the control group (20%).

Table 4. Identity Variants – Target Group

Identity Variants – Target Group

Current Self 1
Current Self 2
Past Self 1
Past Self 2
Past Self 3
Past Self 4
Past Self 5
Respondent 01
Diffusion
Diffusion
Diffusion

Diffusion

Crisis
Diffusion
Diffusion
Respondent 02
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Crisis
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Respondent 03
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Negative
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Respondent 04
Indeterminate
Confident
Negative
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Respondent 05
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive High Self-Regard
Negative
Defensive High Self-regard
Indeterminate
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive High Self-Regard
Respondent 06
Defensive
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive
Defensive
Defensive
Defensive
Respondent 07
Confident
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Confident
Respondent 08
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Confident
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Respondent 09
Defensive High Self-Regard
Defensive High Self-regard
Indeterminate
Defensive High Self-Regard
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Respondent 10
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Diffusion
Indeterminate
Crisis
Indeterminate
Diffusion
Key: 
- Defensive identity variants (vulnerable) 
- Diffused identity variants (vulnerable) 

- Negative identity variants (vulnerable) 

- Indeterminate/Confident identity variants (well-adjusted) 

Situated selves: 

Current self 1 – ‘me as I am at home’ 

Current self 2 – ‘me as I am when counselling currently’ 

Past self 1 – ‘me as I was in childhood’

Past self 2 – ‘me as I was before the Omagh bomb’ 

Past self 3 – ‘me as I was in the short-term aftermath of the Omagh bomb’ 

Past self 4 – ‘me as I was facing the long-term consequences of the Omagh bomb’ 

Past self 5 – ‘me as I was as a result of being involved in previous traumatic experiences’ 

Given that professional identification conflicts with a traumatised and a difficult client are in all likelihood going to be the most challenging in the therapeutic context, they are identified specifically in a comparison between the two groups. Respondents in both the control group and the target group have been shown to have high conflicted identifications with both traumatised and difficult clients in their currently situated selves. However, there is a higher extent of conflicted identifications with traumatised and difficult clients in the target group (between 70% - 90% taking into account the defended states against identification conflicts) than in the control group (65%). This may be a reflection on the nature of the work with which the target group was involved. Conflicted identifications in the target group show a marked increase in intensity as the respondents appraise themselves in the traumatic setting.

Table 5. Identity Variants – Control Group

Identity Variants – Control Group
Current Self 1
Current Self 2
Past Self
Control 01
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Control 02
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Control 03
Crisis
Crisis
Crisis
Control 04
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Control 05
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Control 06
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Crisis
Control 07
Crisis
Indeterminate
Crisis
Control 08
Diffusion
Indeterminate
Crisis
Control 09
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Control 10
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Indeterminate
Key: 
- Diffused identity variants (vulnerable) 
- Indeterminate identity variants (well-adjusted) 

Situated selves: 

Current self 1 – ‘me as I am at home’ 

Current self 2 – ‘me as I am when counselling currently 

Past self – ‘me as I was in childhood’ 

Empathetic identification has been described by Weinreich as "a de facto state of affairs in which ego’s recognition and comprehension of the other may refer to a compassionate understanding of shared values, vulnerabilities and eccentricities, as well as of shared aspirations and desired qualities" (Weinreich, 1989b, p.223). Figley maintains that empathetic identification "is frequently the characteristic that leads people to choose the role of helper, especially as a social worker, counsellor, or other type of professional helper" (Figley, 1995, p.252). Empathic concerns, linked to emotional contagion (experiencing the feelings of the sufferer as a function of exposure to the sufferer) are amongst the components that contribute to compassion stress. For this reason it has been important to track the changes in empathetic identifications with the other in the counsellor’s exposure to their client’s trauma.

The commonality of increasing empathetic identifications, as the respondents appraise themselves from before the Omagh bomb to their currently situated selves, may well indicate how "such experiences can increase the counsellor’s capacity to react empathically" (Veer, 1998:166). Respondents who increasingly empathetically identify with both traumatised and difficult clients, as the respondents appraise themselves from before the Omagh bomb to their currently situated selves, may also indicate how the respondents have either become over involved or perhaps even dependent on their clients (Wilson and Lindy, 1994, p.25). Increased empathetic identifications come about with their clients because counsellors ascribe to themselves more of the characteristics which their clients are experiencing as a result of being traumatised.

The majority of respondents (80%) demonstrate dissociation from both domestic and professional entities as they appraise themselves in the short-term aftermath of the Omagh bomb. The overall appraised dissociation from both domestic and professional people exhibits the respondents’ temporary incapability of social interaction and subsequent temporary alienation and decreased sense of connection with these significant others in the midst of trauma. The phenomenon of dissociation or distancing is a common response to trauma that takes the form of "withdrawal from family, friends, or colleagues, perhaps out of the belief that no-one could understand their distressed response to their work" (Dutton and Rubinstein, 1995, p.88).

(a) It was postulated that vicarious traumatisation, through exposure to their client’s traumatic experiences, would influence how respondents evaluated self in terms of both aspirational and de facto identifications with significant others.

The results show that:

1.Vicarious traumatisation affects an increase in identification conflicts with traumatised and difficult clients that may be maintained over a prolonged period of time.

2.Vicarious traumatisation leads counsellors in the short term to experience alienation in their interpersonal relationships in both the domestic and professional contexts, that is, a degree of dissociation from others.

3.Vicarious traumatisation has the potential to lead counsellors to over-empathetically identify with their traumatised clients both in the short term, and over a prolonged period of time.

4.Vicarious traumatisation in the long term will enable counsellors to empathetically identify more closely with significant others in both their professional and domestic settings than prior to their traumatic involvement.

Counsellors do not exist in vacuity – they may well have personal trauma histories which may be intensified by the work in which they are involved. "A therapist who has worked through his or her own healing process has a distinct advantage in understanding the client and being able to model healing" (Munroe et al., 1995, p.215). Skovholt and Rønnestad (1995) have conducted research that examines how counsellors integrate personal themes into their professional development and practice. Those themes often involve pain in relation to broken relationships, loss, trauma, substance abuse or similar impactful human experience. They warn "if the process of professional individuation has not occurred through continuous professional reflection, the individual may still be a "wounded healer" who can be harmful to clients in small and large ways" (Skovholt and Rønnestad, 1995, p.117).

(b) It was postulated that previous traumatic experiences would make an impact on how respondents appraise self in relation to their appraisal of working in the context of the Omagh bomb.

The results demonstrate that: 

1.Previous traumatic experiences (whether personal or professional) will reverberate with new traumatic encounters in the way counsellors construe their identity in both the professional and domestic contexts that will be evidenced by similar patterns of identifications with significant others.

2.Previous traumatic experiences will have both positive and negative consequences on the way in which counsellors currently construe their identity. Such consequences may be determined by training, supervision, work-context variables, external and internal professional individuation in relation to working with trauma survivors, healing processes relating to personal traumatic experiences and the amelioration of such processes into current identity structures.
 

(c) It was postulated that respondents, through exposure to the trauma of their clients, would experience shifts in the way they appraise their social world with regard to self and others.

The results show that: 

1.Counsellors, upon exposure to the trauma of their clients, will in the first instance demonstrate a decreasing sense of trust in their professional belief and value systems by reverting to the safety of long-established familial belief and value systems.

2.Counsellors, who suffer the effects of vicarious traumatisation, will regard the issue of trust as the most important measure by which they appraise their social world.

3.Counsellors, upon exposure to the trauma of their clients, will become preoccupied with trauma related issues that represent areas of contradiction and difficulty.

This research has shown that vicarious traumatisation can have deleterious, cumulative and prolonged effects on the trauma counsellor’s identity. These consequences on counselling identity necessitate further research into understanding the long-term effects of vicarious traumatisation. The research has been limited by its ‘in the moment’ perspective on the impact on counselling identity of trauma’s after-shocks. The researcher is presently pursuing a longitudinal study which will give insight into both changes in identity processes that were temporary and those that were permanent.

In light of the findings of this research, it is imperative that the caring professions be made more aware of the psychological impact of vicarious traumatisation on counselling identity in those who deal with the survivors of trauma. It has been demonstrated that professional identity is sometimes used as a defence against the disrupted self caused by the pain and confusion of vicarious traumatisation. Those involved in caring for the psychosocial needs of traumatised people should recognise the need to foster collegial support networks as a means of preventing isolation and alienation for those who are vulnerable to the affects of vicarious traumatisation. Above all, counsellors should recognise the importance of self-care in order to maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives.

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Note:  This article is based on research undertaken for the degree MSc in Guidance and Counselling at the University of Ulster by the first author under the direction of the second author, who is a Professor in the same department and university. (University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, BT37 0QB, N Ireland)
 
Selwyn Black BEd MSc  Peter Weinreich PhD
Selwyn Black is a postgraduate student at the University of Ulster. He is also an associate lecturer in counselling/social psychology. Selwyn is currently pursuing a longitudinal study with the above research groups as a PhD study in Psychology. His research interests are in understanding the psychological impact of caring in trauma counsellors. Selwyn may be contacted at: Selwyn@lenoir.freeserve.co.uk.
Peter Weinreich is Professor of Psychology at the University of Ulster. His academic interests include development of the Identity Structure Analysis conceptual framework for application in social, developmental and cross-cultural contexts – and for investigating clinical issues in identity formation and change. Peter may be contacted at: P.Weinreich@ulst.ac.uk

TRAUMATOLOGY

Volume 6, Issue 1, Article 3