The research project I worked on this summer was one that dealt with data on potentially traumatic topics: intimate partner violence and suicide. Before I was even assigned any tasks related to data, however, my PI introduced the concept of vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is a term used to describe the range of negative impacts and behavioral responses that individuals may experience as a result of working on projects with potentially traumatic topics. It can manifest itself in many different ways, and the most important way to minimize vicarious trauma is to promote vicarious resilience, which is a term used to describe how one “bounces back” from such experiences. I was curious to see how other Penn professors who conduct research on such potentially traumatic topics approached the issue when taking on students for research purposes, and the aim of this research project was to gather their accounts. 

The first aspect of this project was recruitment. Penn professors were selected from lists of standing Penn faculty who hire students to work on research studies that involve data on potentially traumatic topics such as violence, crime, injury, disease, and disaster; these professors received emails asking for their interest in participating in the study along with an attached consent form. Professors who agreed to participate attended a thirty-minute interview on Zoom with me. These interviews were transcribed so that I could conduct analyses; the focus on the analyses was to identify themes related to the research question across all interviews.

When asked about how they might introduce students to the potential risk of distress in response to their work, participants noted that it was crucial for their student researchers to feel comfortable enough to come to them if they were to experience distress or activation. Therefore, systematic processes to introduce students to the risk of distress were less common; participants placed a higher emphasis on informal processes and casual conversations. Two participants did note that while there is great importance in expressing their concern for their students’ emotional and mental well-being, there is a fine line between being supportive and being a therapist for their students. They did not feel that taking on such a role would be appropriate. That being said, participants stated that one of the most effective ways of maintaining a supportive environment for students was to share their personal experiences with vicarious trauma as well as vicarious resilience. Finally, when asked about their own practices of self-care in response to their work, participants highlighted that they have learned how to see potentially traumatic topics in an optimistic light. They focus on projects they genuinely care about as well as what they are able to do to make a positive change rather than honing in on the heaviness of the topic(s).