Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
Laura van Dermoot Lipsky
with Connie Burk
(Berrett-Koehler: 264 pp., $19.95)
Reviewed by Nancy Poitou
How do those who help the traumatized or work with socially disenfranchised continue to do work that is necessary when the work sometimes feels overwhelming because there is so much of it still to do? How do they hear the stories of violence and poverty everyday without sinking under the weight of sadness and pain? In the introduction Laura van Dermoot Lipsky states that trauma exposure response is only slowly coming to the fore as a larger social concern rather than simply an issue for isolated individuals … According to a March 2007 Newsweek article, “a U. S. Army internal advisory report on health care for troops in Iraq in 2006 indicated 33% of behavioral-health personnel, 45% of primary-care specialists and 27% of chaplains described feeling high or very high levels of ‘provider fatigue.’”Sometimes called a vicarious traumatization the elevated stress hormones that accompany it can cause high blood pressure, diabetes, and a compromised immune system.
Caregivers such as these don’t recognize the symptoms because their attention is on the people they do the work for and their pain. The authors name 16 warning signs that their contact with victims is taking a toll on them. People who want to make a difference in the lives of others are a precious commodity and we can’t afford to lose them to the burden. The authors outline a program based on an indigenous people’s wisdom of following the four directions except in this case there are five. Although the book is entitled Trauma Stewardship it is not always trauma but social activism roles that the authors address. This gets a little confusing given the title. The scope may be broader than it should be but it does begin to map the treacherous terrain that caregivers need to navigate in order to maintain their sanity and find a way to continue their work for us all.
Nancy Poitou, M.A., M.F.T., C.T.S., teaches meditation and has her private counseling practice in Monrovia, California. (626) 358-0155
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