Newton's Law: Secondary Traumatic Stress

Presentation Description: Law enforcement, service providers, and medical responders experience sustained exposure to child maltreatment, sexual assaults, and human trafficking. The resulting effects can be devastating and may include substance abuse, increased rates of suicide, marital distress, depression and anxiety, and decreased physical wellness. This presentation will focus on learning more about personal secondary traumatic stress (STS) and gaining tools to assess personal STS to improve wellbeing. Attendees will gain resilience strategies and awareness of the impacts of STS. The presenter will differentiate between STS, compassion fatigue, burnout, moral injury, and post-traumatic stress to assist attendees in better understanding the impact high-stress work environments have on first responder wellness.

• This presentation will enhance your ability to: recognize their own levels of compassion fatigue and secondary trauma through discussion, definitions, and a personal assessment on levels of STS.
• This presentation will enhance your ability to: understand the need to normalize STS in high stress work environments and demonstrate the use of tools and resources to improve their personal and professional lives.
• This presentation will enhance your ability to: learn how to advocate for culture change in the workplace by discussing the importance of leadership buy-in and tools to make a difference.