The primary objective of this research is to identify factors which either contribute to or protect therapists from vicarious traumatization. Further understanding of the process of vicarious traumatization is essential not only for the protection of trauma therapists, but also for the protection of and improved clinical care for trauma survivors. A sample of trauma therapists from varied settings will be administered a variety of self- report measures, including measures of level of vicarious traumatization and psychological distress as well as various measures of personality and coping style. Simultaneous multiple regression will be used to test whether certain aspects of therapists' personality style and personal history are predictive of general symptomatic distress and vicarious traumatization, above and beyond the influence of several salient demographic variables (e.g., age, years of training, severity of exposure); active coping styles are proposed as protective factors that mitigate the effects of vicarious traumatization. Long-term objectives include the development of recommendations for clinicians and trauma therapy supervisors for anticipating and minimizing the potentially detrimental effects of vicarious traumatization on trauma therapists and the treatment process.
