The Effects Of Personal Trauma History And Working With Clients With Similar Trauma On Well-being Among Mental Health Counselors

Abstract

Several studies have researched burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary trauma, vicarious trauma, and shared trauma of practicing mental health professionals. Yet few have focused directly on the impact of personal trauma history on well-being. This study was an online exploratory design investigating the relationships among counselor personal trauma history, well-being, and the effects of seeing clients with similar trauma. Personal trauma history was determined through a demographical survey, and well-being analyzed using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL). The study examined several demographic variables to determine whether a model exits to predict counselor well-being. While the study found that different variables exist for counselors with trauma and those without, posttraumatic stress score was the one common predictor.