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In this essay, authors Lawson, Caringi, Gottfried, Bride, and Hydon introduce the concept of trauma literacy, connecting it to students' trauma and educators' secondary traumatic stress (STS). Interactions with traumatized students is one cause of STS; others derive from other traumatic encounters in schools and communities. Undesirable effects of STS start with professional disengagement and declining performance, include spill-over effects into educators' personal lives, and, ultimately, may cause them to leave the profession. The authors contend that alongside trauma-informed pedagogies and mental health services for students, mechanisms are needed for STS prevention, early identification, and rapid response. To benefit from and advance this dual framework, educators need a trauma-informed literacy that enables self-care, facilitates and safeguards interactions with trauma-impacted students and colleagues, and paves the way for expanded school improvement models.

Secondary traumatic stress (STS), or experiencing trauma through exposure to clients' traumatic stories, occurs across helping professions. No studies have focused solely on STS in Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs). In a sample of MFTs (N = 201), this study hypothesized that exposure to trauma through therapeutic work would be associated with STS and MFTs' intentions to leave their job. Findings indicated trauma exposure was positively associated with STS (β =.33, p <.001) and intention to leave (β =.18, p <.001). STS partially mediated the association between MFTs' exposure to trauma in their work and intention to leave (β =.06, p <.05). Compassion satisfaction (β = −.49, p <.001) and organizational commitment to resilience building (β = −.26, p <.001) were negatively associated with intention to leave. The final model accounted for 58% of the variance in intention to leave. Prevention implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may be associated with variation in social workers' perceptions of effectiveness, perceptions of acceptability, and use of psychosocial evidence-based practices (EBPs) for the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD) in comparison to other SUD counselors who are non-social workers. A national sample of 1,140 counselors in private SUD treatment settings completed a mailed survey. Overall, counselors perceive both motivational interviewing (MI) and contingency management (CM) to be effective and acceptable interventions, with MI perceived to be both more effective and more acceptable than CM. The results of this study also shed light on the factors associated with perceptions of effectiveness and acceptability of MI and CM. The results of this study underscore the importance of exposure to EBPs in the development of positive attitudes toward and use of EBPs. In particular, professional networks are an important route to introduce social workers to EBPs, as is professional training on specific EBPs. Efforts to increase the uptake of evidence-based SUD interventions should not be limited to dissemination of information regarding effectiveness; rather, efforts should also be expended to expose social workers to EBPs.

HIV/AIDS has changed drastically since the introduction of life-saving drugs known as highly active antiretroviral treatment. These same drugs have created a schism between the haves and the have-nots in society. The demographics of the disease have also changed alongside treatment. This article explores the changing face of HIV/AIDS in the 21st century by using the work of political scientist Harold Lasswell. Lasswell has provided a theoretical framework in which to view an epidemic that is deeply affecting communities of color. This framework further accentuates the need for social workers to do more work in the area of HIV/AIDS within communities of color.

Social workers are increasingly being called on to assist survivors of childhood abuse, domestic violence, violent crime, disasters, and war and terrorism. It has become increasingly apparent that the psychological effects of traumatic events extend beyond those directly affected. Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is becoming viewed as an occupational hazard of providing direct services to traumatized populations. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of STS in a sample of social workers by examining the frequency of individual symptoms; the frequency with which diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are met; and the severity of STS levels. Results indicate that social workers engaged in direct practice are highly likely to be secondarily exposed to traumatic events through their work with traumatized populations, many social workers are likely to experience at least some symptoms of STS, and a significant minority may meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD.

The terms secondary traumatic stress (STS), vicarious traumatization (VT), and compassion fatigue (CF) have all been used, sometimes interchangeably, to refer to the observation that those who provide clinical services to trauma survivors may themselves experience considerable emotional disruption, becoming indirect victims of the trauma. Consequently, such reactions are becoming viewed as an occupational hazard of providing clinical services to traumatized populations. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the conceptual and empirical literature on secondary traumatic stress, as well as recommendations for its prevention. It is hoped that this article will serve to increase the awareness of this potential occupational hazard of counseling traumatized substance abusers among substance abuse treatment counselors, administrators, and educators. (Contains 1 figure.)

Objective: To describe the development and validation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), a 17-item instrument designed to measure intrusion, avoidance, and arousal symptoms associated with indirect exposure to traumatic events via one's professional relationships with traumatized clients. Method: A sample of 287 licensed social workers completed a mailed survey containing the STSS and other relevant survey items. Results: Evidence was found for reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and factorial validity. Conclusions: The STSS fills a need for reliable and valid instruments specifically designed to measure the negative effects of social work practice with traumatized populations. The instrument may be used to undertake empirical investigation into the prevention and amelioration of secondary traumatic stress among social work practitioners. (Contains 2 tables.)

Investigated the effect of one agency's change from mixed-gender to single-gender treatment on client retention and treatment completion. Results indicate that substance abuse treatment provided in single-gender settings does not significantly increase treatment retention and completion. Findings indicate that gender-specific treatment must do more than provide traditional treatment in a single-gender environment. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may be associated with variation in social workers' perceptions of effectiveness, perceptions of acceptability, and use of psychosocial evidence-based practices (EBPs) for the treatment of substance use disorders (SLID) in comparison to other SUD counselors who are non-social workers. A national sample of 1,140 counselors in private SUD treatment settings completed a mailed survey. Overall, counselors perceive both motivational interviewing (MI) and contingency management (CM) to be effective and acceptable interventions, with MI perceived to be both more effective and more acceptable than CM. The results of this study also shed light on the factors associated with perceptions of effectiveness and acceptability of MI and CM. The results of this study underscore the importance of exposure to EBPs in the development of positive attitudes toward and use of EBPs. In particular, professional networks are an important route to introduce social workers to EBPs, as is professional training on specific EBPs. Efforts to increase the uptake of evidence-based SUD interventions should not be limited to dissemination of information regarding effectiveness; rather, efforts should also be expended to expose social workers to EBPs. KEY WORDS: attitudes; evidence-based practice; knowledge; social workers; substance abuse treatment, Emphasis on the identification and use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) is increasingly prominent in social work and in the substance use disorders (SUD) treatment field, yet uptake of psychosocial interventions [...]

In recent years, social workers in both academic and clinical settings have focused on improving the quality of end-of-life care by closely examining the psychosocial needs of the dying person [...]

HIV/AIDS has changed drastically since the introduction of life-saving drugs known as highly active antiretroviral treatment. These same drugs have created a schism between the haves and the have-nots in society. The demographics of the disease have also changed alongside treatment. This article explores the changing face of HIV/AIDS in the 21st century by using the work of political scientist Harold Lasswell. Lasswell has provided a theoretical framework in which to view an epidemic that is deeply affecting communities of color. This framework further accentuates the need for social workers to do more work in the area of HIV/AIDS within communities of color. KEY WORDS: communities of color; Harold Lasswell; HIV/AIDS; politics; social work, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2008), more than 1.2 million people in the United States are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS, and more than [...]

Through 2001, 495,592 people were reported to be living with HIV infection or AIDS in the United States (CDC, 2001). Between 1999 and 2000 the estimated number of people living [...]

Little is known about patients' addiction severity, substance use, or mental health symptoms upon entering integrated treatment. This is the first study to compare baseline characteristics among cohorts of patients with co-occurring disorders entering a private integrated residential treatment program in 2013 and 2017; a period when severe and persistent mental illness diagnoses, mental health service use, and overdose deaths increased. Our sample includes 3400 patients entering private, integrated residential treatment during 2013 (n = 1535) and 2017 (n = 1865). Trained staff completed admission interviews of all participants that included the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), a semi-structured interview to evaluate the past 30-day functioning of the following domains: medical, employment, alcohol, drug, legal, family or social support systems, and psychiatric. We used a p-value of 0.05 to assess significance. With the exception of the drug composite score, the 2017 cohort scored higher than the 2013 cohort on all other composite scores. Compared to the 2013 cohort, the 2017 cohort reported more days using alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, and engaging in polysubstance use. Conversely, the 2017 cohort reported fewer days using other prescription opioids and sedatives than the 2013 cohort. After controlling for age, the 2017 cohort reported more days of marijuana use than the 2013 cohort. The 2017 cohort reported higher rates of the following symptoms: depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and suicidal ideation. Findings underscore differences among integrated treatment patient cohorts for baseline addiction severity, substance use, or mental health symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that the disease model of alcoholism has lost its status as paradigm in international circles, the alcoholism research and treatment community in the United States maintains steadfast [...]

Substance abuse among people with HIV may have a negative effect on quality of life, use of health services, adherence to medication regimens, and health outcomes (Bing et al., 2001). [...]

Self-care is regarded as essential for effective social work practice, offsetting occupational stress and promoting well-being and resiliency among practitioners. However, the literature reveals a notable absence of psychometrically sound instruments to measure self-care. The purpose of the present study was to describe the development, refinement, and construct validity of the Self-Care Practices Scale (SCPS). The piloted version of the SCPS is a 38-item instrument designed to measure frequency of engagement in personal and professional self-care practices. Data were collected through mailed surveys from a random sample of master's-level clinical social workers and members of the National Association of Social Workers (N = 492). Analysis supports the construct validity of an 18-item SCPS with two subscales that demonstrate strong internal validity. The SCPS is useful for social work educators, practitioners, and administrators to ascertain frequency of self-care practice and build a stronger culture of self-care. The role of SCPS in future research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 17-item instrument is designed to describe the development and validation of the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). It was concluded that the STSS fills the need for reliable and valid instruments specifically designed to measure the negative effects of social work practice with traumatized populations.