Promoting therapist longevity: exploring sexual offending treatment providers' experiences of workplace support

Vicarious trauma and burnout are not uncommon among therapists working with individuals who have sexually abused, which highlights the importance of workplace support. The current study aimed to explore sexual offending treatment providers' experiences of workplace support, including support fr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of sexual aggression 2018-09, Vol.24 (3), p.311-325
Main Authors: Willis, Gwenda M., Prescott, David S., Levenson, Jill S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Burnout
Data
Offending
Sex crimes
Sex offenders
Sexual abuse
Supervision
Supervisors
Therapists
Trauma
treatment
Vicarious trauma
workplace support
Workplaces
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Vicarious trauma and burnout are not uncommon among therapists working with individuals who have sexually abused, which highlights the importance of workplace support. The current study aimed to explore sexual offending treatment providers' experiences of workplace support, including support from supervisors and managers, using a mixed-methods approach. Participants (N = 189) completed an anonymous online survey. While quantitative data suggested that participants felt generally supported in their work, qualitative data highlighted nuances in participants' experiences. Support typically came from participants' colleagues and/or supervisors, although supervisory support was sometimes inadequate. Support from senior management was often lacking. Participants described their best supervisors as genuine, warm, empathic, promoting professional growth, knowledgeable and collaborative. Participants' best employers were described in similar ways, in addition to providing good contractual arrangements and effective management systems. Implications for strengthening workplace support that may buffer challenges faced by clinicians, prevent adversarial outcomes and foster therapist longevity are discussed.
ISSN:1355-2600
1742-6545
DOI:10.1080/13552600.2018.1528794