Educational Psychology in Practice

ISSN: 0266-7363 (Print) 1469-5839 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cepp20

Providing psychological intervention following

traumatic events: understanding and managing
psychologists’ own stress reactions

Ben Hayes & Norah Frederickson

To cite this article: Ben Hayes & Norah Frederickson (2008) Providing psychological intervention
following traumatic events: understanding and managing psychologists’ own stress reactions,
Educational Psychology in Practice, 24:2, 91-104, DOI: 10.1080/02667360802019123

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Educational Psychology in Practice
Vol. 24, No. 2, June 2008, 91–104

Providing psychological intervention following traumatic events:

understanding and managing psychologists’ own stress reactions
Ben Hayesa* and Norah Fredericksonb
aKent Educational Psychology Service, Folkestone, UK; bEducational Psychology Group, University
College London, London, UK

(Received 24 January 2007; final version received 16 September 2007)

Taylor and Francis
CEPP_A_302078.sgm

The role of the educational psychology service in crisis support is well established. This paper
Educational
10.1080/02667360802019123
0266-7363
Research
Taylor
202008
24
ben.hayes@kent.gov.uk
BenHayes
00000June
& Article
Francis
(print)/1469-5839
Psychology
2008 in Practice
(online)

examines a key aspect of this role, the impact on psychologists themselves, and reviews
literature on secondary stress, considering the term “stress” itself as part of the discussion. It
examines recommendations for professional practice and self care in disasters and considers
a model that could be used to inform supervision and professional practice.
Keywords: stress; trauma; reactions; crisis support; self care

Educational psychology crisis support services

The role of the educational psychology service in crisis support is well established. UK national
health guidelines on post trauma care recognise the role these services may have:

[Following a major disaster] Educational psychology services in conjunction with child and adoles-
cent mental health services (CAMHS), social services and education are likely to coordinate the
provision of social and psychological care to children. (National Institute for Clinical Excellence
[NICE], 2006, p. 118)

The roles, structures, and procedures for educational psychology services undertaking crisis
support work in the United Kingdom have been reported and documented in the professional liter-
ature for over 10 years, early examples being Mallon and Best (1995), Houghton (1996), and Carroll
et al. (1997). Psychologists in other parts of the world have also been developing similar ways of
working (Allen et al., 2002; Nickerson & Zhe, 2004). Some have argued that the growing involve-
ment of educational psychologists in crisis work means that post trauma care should be incorporated
into initial training programmes (Cameron, Gersch, M’Gadzah, & Moyse, 1995, p. 16).
The need for effective supervision and self care is a common theme throughout. Some rightly
highlight that practising in this area without good structures would be ethically unsound
(McCaffrey, 2004), but there has been a lack of discussion about what the key issues for super-
vision might be or how they might differ from other supervision practices. Allen et al. (2002) go
further and identify specific areas for implementation, such as increasing academic exposure to
topics related to crisis intervention and prevention, providing opportunities for practice in the
field, and ensuring effective supervision that links the two. The specific content of this
“academic exposure” is not elaborated on, however. What is involved in this work and what

*Email: ben.hayes@kent.gov.uk

ISSN 0266-7363 print/ISSN 1469-5839 online

© 2008 Association of Educational Psychologists
DOI: 10.1080/02667360802019123
http://www.informaworld.com
92 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

psychologies should be included in the supporting literature? Before considering these questions,
the nature of the work undertaken within such a service is described in more detail.

Work completed by a crisis support team

The psychology service of one large county authority will be discussed here. The crisis support
co-ordinators in work on a number of levels. They respond to initial requests for involvement,
help make a judgement about the level of support the school will need, and, where necessary,
convene an operational team to support the school. Recent examples include:

● direct support for teenage victims of rape during an overseas trip

● support for teachers in a school following the murder of one of their colleagues
● advice and support for staff in a school following the sudden death of both parents of one
of the pupils in the school
● support for staff and pupils in school who witnessed a fatal road traffic accident

In a six-month period in 2006 the service responded to 24 such incidents that necessitated
psychologist deployment to a school to provide immediate support. The criteria for deciding
whether an incident warrants a response from the crisis support team are essentially twofold.
First, the co-ordinators aim to establish whether anyone has directly witnessed or experienced a
fatal, near fatal, or extremely shocking event. This first consideration stems directly from the
diagnostic criteria for post traumatic stress disorder; NICE (2006) identifies this as a key risk
factor. Second, the co-ordinators consider the degree of emotional distress reported, and whether
it is “overwhelming” for the school community.
The British Psychological Society strongly recommends supervision for psychologists who
undertake work with trauma victims, including for example psychological debriefing (British
Psychological Society, 2002), and considers unsupervised practice to be unethical. It makes no
specific recommendations about the content or model for supervision, however: “As long as both
[supervisor and supervisee] find the relationship helpful, the model used can be varied” (p. 28).
The only stipulation is that the supervisor should have a good working knowledge of debriefing.

What are the risks to psychologists?

A person at risk of secondary traumatic stress disorder has been defined as someone who has
“experienced indirectly the primary traumatic stressors through helping those who had experi-
enced these traumas: helping in such roles as a nurse, social worker, rape counsellor, or other
roles and activities” (Figley, 2002, p. 4). The characteristics of the condition include avoidance
of thoughts, feelings and conversations about a client’s trauma, diminished interest or participation
in significant activities, hypervigilance, a restricted range of affect, and acting or feeling as though
the event were re-occurring. In view of these dangers, what are the psychologies and principles
that provide strategies for navigating this work, what self care advice needs to be given, and what
training needs to be in place? Should psychologists be aware of anything additional and different
to normal stress management strategies when working in highly stressful environments?
This paper aims to identify the specific elements of support that should be in place for
psychologists working in this area. Taking a lead from Allen et al. (2002), the paper will identify
topics (such as stress and emotions) related to crisis intervention and prevention from academic
sources that should be included in a supervision process, how opportunities for practicum in the
field might contribute to the work of educational psychologists in this area, and how effective
supervision might link the two.
 Educational Psychology in Practice 93

Stress and emotions

The field of stress is one to which psychology has made a significant contribution in the last
century, and is heralded by some as an area of great achievement for psychologists (Sutton,
2005). It is also a much troubled concept in psychology, and may have less utility than its popu-
larity would suggest.
Exactly where the term “stress” originated, with regard to psychological processes at least,
is open to some debate. Cooper and Dewe (2004) trace the origins of the term back to Hooke’s
law of elasticity in the seventeenth century. In terms of psychological, or biological, processes it
was only later – the work of Hans Seyle being an early example in the 1930s – that the term
began to take on a recognisable form for psychologists. Cooper and Dewe (2004) note that these
early examples relied on the notion of disequilibrium in the body: stress was thought to occur
when the organism was forced out of its ideal balanced state, as when a rod might be bent from
its natural shape. An interesting and significant omission from Cooper and Dewe’s history is the
work of Kurt Lewin (1935), who used the term “tension” to describe the process of competing
drives or forces in a psychological context. Lewin’s work, perhaps more that Seyle’s biological
slant, grounded the ideas of psychological stress in an analogy between physical processes and
psychological processes. It was from roots such as these that the term burst into today’s popular
literature and heightened awareness of stress at work, in the family, and in health.
The huge popularisation of the term “stress” apparent today has come at a price. Cooper and
Dewe note that by the end of the twentieth century some writers were arguing that the use of the
term was “so confused, to be almost meaningless” (p. 111). They take the bold step of offering
an alternative focus for future research. Rather than stress providing a useful avenue for ongoing
research and investigation, they assert, “It is emotions that may give us the organising concept
of the future” (p. 116).
Over 15 years ago Monat and Lazarus (1991) documented the unsatisfactory situation
researchers in this field found themselves in, with “confusion and controversy” seeming to domi-
nate. Monat and Lazarus (2001) defined psychological stress as “cognitive factors leading to the
perception of threat” (p. 2). However, they went on to say that this alone is too broad to be of
practical use and that more fine-grained descriptions cause rife disagreement. An interesting
feature of this definition is that it sits closely with the notion of threat, and therefore helps to
encourage the common view that stress is an essentially harmful phenomenon, particularly when
the difference between a threat and a person’s reaction to it are not clearly differentiated.
Although commonly seen as something to avoid, stress also has a positive side.

It can mobilise us to achieve more that we believed could be accomplished, and it can even lead to
a greater appreciation of life. From crisis, too, can come a reorganisation of our lives in ways that
leave us more productive, engaged and satisfied than before the crisis. (Lazarus, 2006, p. 20)

In a very personal and autobiographical essay, Lazarus (2006) describes how his career studying
stress has brought him to his current conceptualisation of the role of emotion in stress and
coping. Emotions, it is argued, are the results of a flow of continuous feedback in an interaction.
They are never stable but constantly being modified on the basis of encounters. This, coupled
with the meaning emotional experience has for the individual, creates a coping process. Coping
is the process by which experiences are appraised and emotions regulated.

Emotions at the heart of stress and coping processes

Lewin’s work (1935) is an early example of stress-related concepts being described in terms of
psychological situation. Lewin’s theory of dynamic personality was based on physical analogy,
94 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

and “tension” is introduced in terms of the tension in a coiled spring. The theory relied on the
term “valence” to describe the way different forces are resolved in any person to create behav-
iour. Thus: “The child is faced by a desired goal, a positive valence. For a negative valence to
be effective as an opposing force it must lie in the same direction as this goal” (p. 158). The
language used was technical and rarely incorporates emotional terms. However, there were some
exceptions, such as when Lewin commented: “This simultaneous fear of punishment and hope
of reward is characteristic of many situations of the type in question” (p. 158). So, although
never stated explicitly in the theory, there was an implicit link between the “valence” in a situa-
tion and the emotion experienced by the person in the situation.
Lewin’s theory is built around the idea of equilibrium, tension and competing valences
determining behaviour according to their respective strengths and directions. Lewin used
diagrammatic representations of forces to illustrate these dynamics with, for example a teenage
child experiencing negative forces when moving away from home, but experiencing a competing
positive force represented by the freedom he or she would have outside of the home. The child’s
behaviour is determined by the balance and strength of these forces, and the tension in the situ-
ation results from the degree to which the two forces are in competition (Lewin 1935, p. 88).
Figure 1 is a more recent conceptualisation of stress and coping from Matthews, Zeidner, and
Roberts (2002). Here, situational and personal variables are balanced in the process of
“appraisal”. There is still a balance between competing internal and external factors, as with
Lewin’s theory, but here the process of resolving the forces that might be emanating from each
becomes a choice or decision that is informed by appraisal of the emotional context.
The model presented in Figure 2 is the next stage in this conceptualisation, whereby the
Figure 1. A transactional model of stress, Figure 8.2 from Matthews et al. (2002, p. 297) reproduced with permission from The MIT Press.

appraisal and choice process becomes a part of the individual’s emotional intelligence, which in
turn is based on their previous experiences and learning. The model uses emotional intelligence
as the mediating factor in stress management.
The important differences between these models, old and new, are the notion of agency and
Figure 2. Emotional intelligence within a transactional model of stress, Figure 8.4A from Matthews et al. (2002, p. 301) reproduced with permission from The MIT Press.

the concept of strategy choice, which as we explore further will be seen to have particular signif-
icance. It can also be seen that the role of emotion was acknowledged, albeit implicitly or indi-
rectly, in early models that used physical processes as their main analogies, and that it becomes
explicit and central to the new model. Emotions and emotional competencies may offer a better

Figure 1. A transactional model of stress, Figure 8.2 from Matthews et al. (2002, p. 297) reproduced with
permission from The MIT Press.
 Educational Psychology in Practice 95

Figure 2. Emotional intelligence within a transactional model of stress, Figure 8.4A from Matthews et al.
(2002, p. 301) reproduced with permission from The MIT Press.

conceptual framework for considering human reactions in threatening situations than stress has
been able to provide, but the example below suggests that the notion of emotions driving the
process may have been around for longer than is at first apparent.

Stress and coping

As part of an investigation into children’s appraisal and coping in bullying situations, Hunter and
Boyle (2004) used factor analysis to assess dimensions of coping strategy in 17 different studies
looking at coping. The studies included adults, children, and other particular groups, such as
surgical patients. The number of factors that emerged ranged from 3 to 28. Avoidance was the
most common strategy; others included problem-focused strategies, emotion-focused strategies,
active strategies, hostile reaction, wishful thinking, escapism, minimisation, and emphasising the
positive. Within this vast array of strategies it is not uncommon for authors to distinguish dyadic
types, such as problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping (Cheng & Cheung, 2005;
Murtagh & Wollersheim, 1997). Cooper and Dewe (2004), however, note that attempts to find
“core” distinctions within the classification of coping strategies is fraught with difficulties as it
is rarely clear whether a strategy is fulfilling an emotional role, even if on the face of it the strat-
egy appears to be a practical or task-oriented strategy. Furthermore, analysis of the factor struc-
ture of self report items assessing coping fails to incorporate the process of appraisal and strategy
choice.

Flexibility, differentiation, and integration

Cheng and Cheung (2005) investigated how individuals make choices between different strate-
gies, and highlighted the need for flexibility in the choice of coping strategy selected. Flexible
coping is associated with better differentiation (defined as being able to see multiple perspectives
among people or events) and better integration (defined as the ability to perceive trade-offs
between alternatives during strategy selection). It is significant that both these areas of skill can
96 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

be matched to areas of skill identified within emotional literacy or emotional competencies.

Seeing multiple points of view, and empathising, are core aspects of emotional literacy, while
seeing the costs and benefits of any given situation and effective decision making are also iden-
tified in the emotional competence literature as core skills (Matthews et al., 2002, p. 269).

Blunting and monitoring

There are two more factors to be considered before moving on to psychologists and secondary
or vicarious stress. Lazarus (2006) notes a key distinction between avoidance and vigilance,
referring to the tendency to reduce or avoid the significance of emotional reactions or,
conversely, the tendency to become more focused on these reactions. These are argued to be
personality traits rather than coping strategies per se. As such, they might determine how a
person is likely to respond when coping. Interestingly, they are conceptually similar to the terms
“blunting” and “monitoring” used by Cheng and Cheung (2005, p. 867).
As noted previously, current theories of coping have been criticised for developing taxono-
mies without considering process. Some attempts to remedy this highlight the mediating role of
emotions in the coping process, together with flexibility in the choice of coping strategy that
is based on accurate and precise appraisal of situations. Emotions perform a function that is
both an alert to threat but also a cue to the nature of coping needed, and to the regulation of the
situation over time.
It is important to emphasise another benefit of emotional competencies in this area. Recalling
the model of stress and coping depicted in Figures 1 and 2, it is clear that emotional competen-
cies can be developed through a stressful encounter and that this forms a learning loop back to
the appraisal of stress in the next situation that occurs. This learning process has a more positive
aspect to it than coping, being seen as a way of mitigating the negative effects of stress and
simply “managing the stressful encounter” (Cooper & Dewe, 2004, p. 102).
In summary, the key factors emerging from the literature that mediate coping include:
emotional competence, a balance between avoidance and vigilance, intellectualisation, coping
flexibility, learning from difficult events, and seeing the positives.

Trauma: differences and similarities with general models of coping

Many descriptions of trauma begin with the notion that someone is overpowered.

At the moment of trauma, the victim is rendered helpless by overwhelming force. When the force is
that of nature we call it a disaster. When the force is that of other human beings we speak of atroc-
ities. (Herman, 1992, p. 33)

Others describe trauma as an event that threatens the integrity and being of the person. Trauma
occurs when a person “witnessed, or was confronted with, an event or events that involved actual
or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others” (Davis
and Siegel, 2000, p.136). In this way events and situations have been described as traumatic irre-
spective of a person’s psychological response to them, but rather in terms of bodily incapacita-
tion or a threat to physical existence.
Others present a different hypothesis. Here the nature of the incident might be quite mundane
and ordinary, but it may have particular significance for an individual that makes it traumatic.

An experience that is only moderately difficult for one person may be unbearable and traumatic for
another. Thus professionals can not always gauge whether situations will be traumatic or not without
observing the reactions of those involved. (Johnson, 1998, p. 45)
 Educational Psychology in Practice 97

A diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rests on a description of an “experience

outside the range of usual human experiences that would be markedly distressing to almost
anyone” (Figley, 2002, p. 4). The rest of the diagnostic criteria involve the individual showing
reactions within the three core areas of avoidance, persistent re-experience, and increased
arousal. Thus the diagnosis seeks to differentiate those whose reactions to the exceptional events
are not “disordered” from those whose are. The “trauma” remains the event, which, although
rather subjectively defined, should be extraordinary. The stress reactions are detailed in terms of
duration, presentation, and severity.
Some research findings have shed light on the issue of event versus reactions. A study of
women who had been victims of childhood rape (Epstein, Saunders, & Kilpatrick, 1997) found
that two particular factors predicted later PSTD reactions: physical injury and life threat. Despite
all the women’s experiences being undoubtedly traumatic, only certain features of their experi-
ences led to the particular cluster of reactions within the diagnostic category called PTSD: these
related to direct threats to physical integrity.
A critical review of psychological theories related to PTSD (Brewin & Holmes, 2003) found
that despite the wide range of cognitive, affective, and attentional reactions associated with
PTSD only one area appears to be unique to the condition, rather than a feature of co-morbid
anxiety or depression, for example. This unique area was found to be memory responses. These
responses consist primarily of flashbacks and intrusive memories.
The Brewin and Holmes (2003) review explored different models for these memory
processes. They have been explained as either a different type of memory process, distinct from
general memory, or the same type of memory process as general memory but with the feature of
being distinct from previously held views, such as beliefs about personal safety. In the latter it
is the discordance with other memories in the memory network that produces distinctiveness. In
the former, the memory processes are distinctive in nature. Brewin and Holmes (2003) focused
on neuropsychological findings to help establish which view might be more valid. They found
that there is good evidence for separate anatomical memory systems being engaged as a result
of bypassing the normal routes through the hippocampus when there are high levels of cortisol
in the brain following intense fear.
If specific memory processes are the unique feature of traumatic reactions, successful coping
strategies and treatment should, in theory, directly address memory. This is highlighted by guidance
to the National Health Service on the treatment of traumatic reactions. NICE (2006) recommends:
“[I]nterventions such as relaxation or non-directive therapy, that do not address traumatic memo-
ries, should not be routinely offered to people who present with PTSD” (p. 17). Instead the guidance
recommends cognitive behaviour therapy and eye movement desensitisation reprocessing, both
of which focus on a person’s memory of an event specifically and the thoughts associated with
the memory. There is some research basis for this. McNally, Bryant, and Ehlers (2003), for exam-
ple, found that cognitive behaviour therapy that relied on exposure to traumatic memories had more
empirical support than other methods such as psychological debriefing that did not address
memory. Cook-Cottone (2004) reported similar findings relating to children’s post trauma care.
To summarise, the model of emotional competencies mediating stress reactions in the general
stress literature does not seem to apply to traumatic stress reactions. The defining feature of trau-
matic stress is the particular memory effects associated with the event and the post-trauma coping.
Treatment has been found to be most effective when it addresses these specific memory factors.

Psychologists: ideas in practice

An important conceptual model of stress and coping in this area comes from the literature around
so-called secondary traumatic stress syndrome. Before exploring some of the suggested processes
98 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

within secondary traumatic stress, it is important to introduce the central idea of “countertrans-
ference”. Many descriptions of this effect are vague and use weak or seemingly ill-conceived
terminology. Consider, for example, the following definition from Valent (2002, p. 19): “It is
described as the unconscious attunement to and absorption of victims’ stresses and traumas.”
Quite how the absorption takes place is not elaborated on, other than that it rests on the psychol-
ogist’s use of empathy and engagement with the emotions the victim relates. There is a need,
surely, to be more specific than this. Unfortunately, such definitions seem to be fairly common.
Another reads:

Unconsciously mediated transference and counter-transference reactions inevitably feature in any

relationship … it may refer to a) feelings that are the counterpart of the patient’s feelings and b) to
feelings that are counteractions to the patient’s transference. Thus the therapist’s unconscious mind
understands that of her patient. (Aveline, 2002 p. 444)

Recourse to unconscious processes only exposes further weaknesses: How might a process by
which emotions are transferred from one person to another, consciously or unconsciously,
account for reactions in the receiver that mirror traumatic reactions when, as discussed earlier,
the impact of specific conscious memory processes appears to be the unique factor?
“Compassion fatigue” is often argued to be synonymous with secondary traumatic stress
disorder (Collins, 2003). Compassion fatigue, however, suggests an alternative conceptualisa-
tion: workers exposed to the suggested emotional transference over long periods of time in their
professional roles experience fatigue in terms of these emotional capacities.
If repeated exposure to highly negative emotions does have a fatigue effect, how valid is it
to assume that this would lead to the traumatic reactions described by PTSD? One proponent is
Figley (2002), who writes: “Compassion fatigue is a more user-friendly term for secondary trau-
matic stress disorder” (p. 6). The model for compassion fatigue is that crisis workers “absorb the
traumatic stress of those they help” (p. 6). Figley (2002) argues that PTSD and compassion
fatigue are in essence the same, but with one being a primary reaction to the event and the other
being a secondary or received reaction based on the “absorbed” reactions of others. “The only
difference between PTSD and STSD is that in the latter exposure was to the traumatized
person(s) rather than to the traumatic event itself” (p. 19).
A significant weakness in the arguments presented by Figley in support of this model is that
no distinction is made between workers who provide support in situ and those who provide
support immediately following an incident, but in a different physical place (e.g., between an
ambulance driver who attends the accident scene and a counsellor who works with the victim
afterwards). Clearly, when the most significant issue in PTSD reactions appears to be memory
processes, the sensory experiences of the event itself will add particular risk factors for the
worker at the scene. Most descriptions of STSD do not mention the sensory impressions of the
event as a primary feature. Furthermore, it is not clear whether associated effects such as survi-
vor guilt, sensitised vulnerability, or unsettling of plans for the future are as acute in situations
where events are reported rather than experienced. Indeed, the impact of STSD on therapists has
been described as significant but subclinical (Eidelson, D’Alessio, & Eidelson, 2003, p. 144).
This indicates that although certain features of the reactions are the same, the degree to which
they impact on the person, or the degree to which they present as difficulties in that person’s life,
are not of a similar magnitude.
Lazarus (2006) describes research that has examined the effects of watching distressing films
on research participants. This vicarious stress can be monitored via psycho-physiological
measures such as skin conductance. Lazarus (2006) notes a number of enabling and inhibiting
factors, one being the degree to which observers can distance themselves emotionally or “intel-
lectualise” the process. A second factor is the degree of scrutiny the person gives to the events
 Educational Psychology in Practice 99

depicted, which works against distancing to increase sensitivity where scruting is high. Lazarus
concludes, “[V]icarious emotions are likely to be less intense than they would be in actual life”
(p. 28).
As secondary exposure to strong negative emotions appears to be the primary mechanism
in STSD, for those affected, emotional competence, including maintaining emotional distance,
might be seen as the central feature of coping. This could be a vital element in training
psychologists for trauma support. Furthermore, it has been argued that, rather than leading to
fatigue, exposure to negative emotional situations could cause incremental learning and skill
development and support the individual over time. The basis for this model was introduced in
the Matthews et al. (2002) transactional model, whereby experience of situations provides
feedback to emotional competencies (see Figure 2) that in turn produce stronger skills and
competencies.
There is some evidence that the cycle is a virtuous one. Murtagh and Wollersheim
(1997) tracked psychologists’ moods over a three-week period following sessions with
depressed clients. According to the idea of “mood induction”, whereby the mood of the
depressed client impacts upon the psychologist’s own mood, the psychologists should have
shown some synchronisation with their clients’ mood and some change towards more
depressive mood. However, no such link was found, prompting the authors to conclude: “It
may be that psychologists protect themselves from this effect through the use of problem-
focused coping strategies” (p. 363). These strategies are described as “planful problem solv-
ing strategies”.
Positive outcomes from stressful or traumatic experiences have been documented by Linley
and Jospeh (2004) and Linley (2003), who found, for example, that the integration of affect and
cognition that can be achieved though the challenges of having to manage traumatic memories
can allow a person to think about an event with “detachment that avoids the compulsion to re-
enact the earlier trauma” (Linley, 2003, p. 605). Linley discusses this “traumatic growth” within
a “wisdom framework”, arguing that there are longlasting benefits to the individual from having
passed through a traumatic experience.
So, in summary, drawing parallels between post traumatic reactions and secondary reactions,
where a worker is not directly involved in the incident in situ, may be difficult to justify. Further-
more, current transactional models of stress and coping that highlight emotional competencies
provide adaptive mechanisms that allow for growth and resilience rather than erosion and fatigue.
Does this mean that the risks associated with supporting traumatised people are overstated? This
is unlikely, and given the risks widely acknowledged in the literature there is a need for an under-
standing that is additional and different to normal self care advice. This review suggests that more
clarity and precision is needed in defining workers’ reactions, and that this in turn would allow
better self care advice.

Recommendations for coping in highly stressful situations

The National Association of School Psychologists requires all school psychology training
courses to provide crisis intervention training. In light of this requirement, Bolnick and Brock
(2005) looked at the strategies used by school psychologists in California who had taken part
in crisis intervention work. Although they acknowledge that a weakness in their study is that
they do not define “crisis”, they found that 86% of respondents (172 out of 199 psycholo-
gists) had supported at least one. Coping strategies reported by these psychologists were
focusing on normal routine, sharing feelings, recognising the stress others are experiencing,
exercise, rest, spending time with others who have delivered crisis support, and doing “things
that feel good”.
100 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

Table 1. Strategies for team working (from Myers & Wee, 2002).
Emotional competencies Other
Use humour to break tension Incorporate exercise and activity
Defuse at the end of a session by sharing thoughts Eat regularly
and feelings with co-workers
Pamper yourself during time off Take deep breaths and then blow out forcefully
Buddy working Take breaks
Use positive self-talk Get adequate sleep
Group briefings Use notebook to make notes

Table 2. Personal coping strategies (from Parkinson, 1997).

Emotional competencies Other
Suppressing and repressing emotions Preparing mentally
Avoiding disturbing thoughts Keeping busy
Humour Professional training
Talking to a colleague, friend, or partner Keeping your mind off it
Expressing emotions and feelings Listening to music
Pursuing hobbies, exercise, or sport
Being on your own
Having a sense of purpose

Myers and Wee (2002) outline in some detail the strategies that they feel psychologists and
other mental health workers should use when working in disaster situations. Being well
prepared, including pre-disaster stress checks and disaster planning, is seen as a key element.
The points they make fall into three broad categories. First, there are practical considerations for
working, which include effective briefing on the nature of disaster, good on-scene supervision,
early identification of stress reactions, regular assessments of functioning, task rotation, and
time limits on involvement. Second, there is an extensive list of strategies for team working
(Table 1). For presentation purposes here they have been grouped into two categories: those that
would appear to link to emotional competencies and those that do not. Third, there are post disas-
ter considerations consisting of planning a timeline of phase-down activities, conducting case
reviews, providing training on common reactions, debriefing staff, providing recognition for
staff, and developing follow-up protocols.
Parkinson (1997) considers personal coping strategies for those working with trauma victims
(see Table 2). Again these are categorised into those that appear to rely on emotional competen-
cies and those that are linked to other stress management ideas. Parkinson (1997) also describes
the personality traits that are likely to encourage positive coping: belief in one’s own abilities,
optimism, the ability to take a positive attitude to negative events, the belief that challenge brings
personal development, the ability to accept limitations, the ability to make cognitive sense of
experience, and, finally, not seeing oneself as victims.
It is worth highlighting here a theme that can be traced through some of what has been
covered. To what extent might detachment from events be a significant factor in successful
coping? As noted earlier, the most common coping strategies are those linked to avoidance. This
can be avoidance of memories, topics of discussion, or people and places. Another key idea has
been intellectualisation and being able to gain a sense of cognitive mastery by achieving a more
objective and comprehensive overview of what has taken place. Both of these factors can be seen
 Educational Psychology in Practice 101

to contribute to a detachment from experiencing the emotional content of an event: this detach-
ment is an important and adaptive response.
This poses something of a dilemma. If detachment can protect the psychologist from nega-
tive consequences, should it be actively promoted when engaging with the victims of trauma if
emotional competencies lie at the heart of the recovery process? Huggard (2003) noted precisely
this dilemma in the context of medical professional caring for trauma patients. Huggard points
to evidence that detachment does not prevent burnout, but argues that there is no reason to
conclude from this that it should not be considered as a strategy for preventing secondary
trauma reactions. When describing the qualities that effective therapists need, Moorey (2002)
also acknowledged this dilemma: “Good therapists seem to be able to get inside the client’s
cognitive world and empathise while at the same time retaining objectivity” (p. 307). This
balance between emotional engagement, including utilisation of emotional competencies in the
process of aiding recovery, and the safeness afforded by detachment sits at the heart of the
recovery process.

Developing practice
This paper aimed to identify the specific elements of support that should be in place for psychol-
ogists working in the area of crisis support. Taking a lead from Allen et al. (2002), the paper will
now draw together the topics related to crisis intervention and prevention from academic sources
that should be included in a supervision process, and discuss how opportunities for practicum in
the field might contribute to the work of educational psychologists in this area, and how effective
supervision might link the two.
Professional guidelines for psychologists demand that “a description of the frameworks and
models used to guide supervision meetings” must be included in service policy documents
(British Psychological Society, 2006, p. 17) but, as noted above, specific models for working
in this area are rarely described and are often left to psychologists’ own discretion (British
Psychological Society, 2002).
Descriptions of the supervision process highlight outcomes such as “gaining a fresh perspec-
tive, gaining fresh ideas and resources, being challenged, being observed, receiving feedback and
support and gaining opportunities for reflection” for both the supervisor and the supervisee
(Carrington, 2004, p. 35). Adopting a framework for thinking about emotional competencies
would be compatible with all of these outcomes and could, for example, provide a process for
exploring the balance between objectivity and emotional engagement. Figure 2, presented earlier,
might provide the basis for such a framework; this has been elaborated in Figure 3 with the
specific features that have been revealed by this review as being relevant for work in this area.
Preparation for psychologists’ involvement in crisis support can usefully involve working
Figure 3. A suggested model for use in supervision for psychologists when working in highly stressful contexts (adapted from Figure 8.4A in [Matthews et al., 2002, p. 301] reproduced with permission from The MIT Press).

through prepared crisis scenarios in real time (Anderson et al., 2002). Activities would take
professionals through an unfolding scenario based on real or possible events, and explore the
demands that might be placed on people, the planning that should have taken place, the informa-
tion that should be at hand, and the communication links that should in place. Such activities
could also provide opportunities for building familiarity with the emotional competencies, the
intrapersonal and interpersonal strategies shown in Figure 3, that might be needed to engage in
such work effectively.

Conclusions
This review has proposed that stress is an increasingly outdated concept, and considers the
suggestion that emotional competencies should instead provide a focus for psychologists. It has
102 B. Hayes and N. Frederickson

Figure 3. A suggested model for use in supervision for psychologists when working in highly stressful
contexts (adapted from Figure 8.4A in [Matthews et al., 2002, p. 301] reproduced with permission from
The MIT Press).

taken for its focus work in the field of crisis intervention, and has found that although a simple
dichotomy of emotional coping and other coping strategies should be avoided there would be
advantages in making an emotional competence framework more explicit in both trauma reac-
tions and also in psychologists’ own experiences of working in this area.
In conclusion, it is suggested that supervisors and supervisees consider carefully the coping
strategies that might be used by psychologists working in this area. Particular attention should
be given to emotional competencies and models of emotional intelligence, with particular refer-
ence to the use of distancing from the emotional content of the events and the level of engage-
ment a psychologist experiences. Both supervisors and supervisees need to be aware of the risks
associated with secondary trauma and understand the mechanisms that underlie traumatic reac-
tions. In addition, scenario-based activities could help build familiarisation with the range of
protective strategies that can be employed.
 Educational Psychology in Practice 103

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