Examining Secondary Trauma as a Result of Clients’ Reports of Discrimination

Giordano, Amanda L.; Gorritz, Frank B.; Kilpatrick, Erin P.; Scoffone, Chelsea M.; Lundeen, Lindsay A.

In the current study, we examined the extent to which 86 American clinicians heard reports of discrimination from their clients of color. Findings indicated that 96.5% of clinicians heard at least one report of discrimination from clients of color at least occasionally in counseling. The acts of discrimination most frequently reported by clients of color were: a) being made to feel like outsiders, b) treated unfairly by coworkers and classmates, and c) treated unfairly by teachers and principals. Additionally, we investigated the predictive nature of reports of discrimination from clients of color on clinicians’ compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The three predictor variables (clinicians’ age, years counseling, and clients of color’s reports of discrimination) did not significantly predict compassion satisfaction or burnout, yet significantly predicted secondary traumatic stress. These results revealed that as reports of discrimination from clients of color increased, so too did clinicians’ secondary traumatic stress.