Empathy often occurs effortlessly. You might suddenly adopt someone else’s perspective and feel their world as if it were your own. This automatic empathy can result in sorrow for someone’s misfortune or sharing in their joy during their successes. Such empathy often extends to those you are closest to and occasionally to others, especially when circumstances draw you into their emotional experience.
In many professions, empathy is essential for fostering interpersonal connections and building meaningful relationships. However, for those frequently exposed to traumatic content or distressing situations, high levels of empathy can be a risk factor for developing vicarious trauma. Over-identification with the pain or emotions within traumatic material can lead to heightened secondary stress symptoms compared to those with lower levels of empathy.
What is Vicarious Trauma?
Vicarious trauma is the profound psychological and emotional strain resulting from empathetic engagement with others’ trauma. It can fundamentally alter your core beliefs and worldview.
Why Controlled Empathy Matters When Working with Traumatic Content and Materials
Empathy is often an automatic response, but it can be managed with a cognitive effort to ensure empathetic reactions are deliberate and controlled. This is particularly crucial for those working with distressing content, as it allows individuals to engage with others’ suffering without becoming overwhelmed or emotionally impaired. By balancing understanding with emotional detachment, individuals can provide support while preserving their own wellbeing. This controlled approach is vital for protecting your emotional state and maintaining mental health, enabling you to remain effective in your role.
Strategies for Controlling Empathy
- Self-awareness: Developing self-awareness is crucial for managing empathy effectively. It involves recognising your emotional responses and understanding how they affect you. Self-awareness helps you distinguish between your feelings and those of others, enabling you to respond more thoughtfully.
- Self-care: Prioritising self-care is essential for maintaining emotional health and managing the impact of empathy. Engaging in activities that replenish your energy and promote wellbeing can help you remain grounded and resilient. This might include regular exercise, healthy eating, sufficient sleep, and engaging in hobbies or relaxation techniques.
- Setting Boundaries: Setting boundaries around your work and personal life is also important to prevent burnout. By taking care of yourself, you can ensure you have the emotional and physical resources to handle the demands of empathetic work without becoming overwhelmed.
- Mantras/Mindsets: Create and internalise empowering mantras or mindsets before tackling challenging work. These affirmations can help you maintain emotional balance and prevent empathy from becoming overwhelming.
- Use Cognitive Techniques: Apply cognitive strategies to shift from affective empathy (feeling another’s emotions) to cognitive empathy (understanding another person’s emotions). This approach involves analysing and reflecting on the content without becoming emotionally entangled.
Controlled empathy is an essential skill when working with traumatic content, as it helps to protect your emotional state and enables you to support others effectively.