A Trusted Learning and Development Advisor
A Trusted Learning and Development Advisor
Help your people help others – without burning out.
Vicarious trauma training helps people who absorb other people’s distress as part of their job stay well enough to keep doing it. Not by caring less, but by understanding what repeated exposure does to them and what to do about it early.
Case workers, nurses, court staff, call centre teams, child protection officers, investigators, claims assessors. These roles exist because someone has to hear the hard things. Over months and years, hearing them changes people. That change is predictable, it is measurable, and it is largely preventable.
This workshop is delivered in-house across Australia, tailored to the kind of material your team actually deals with.
Vicarious trauma is the cumulative psychological effect of being repeatedly exposed to other people’s traumatic experiences. It is sometimes called secondary traumatic stress.
It is not the same thing as burnout, and treating them as interchangeable is why so many workplaces respond to it badly. Burnout comes from workload, under-resourcing and lack of control. It builds from the volume of work. Vicarious trauma builds from the content of the work, and it changes how a person sees the world: their sense of safety, their trust in others, their belief that things generally turn out alright.
Someone can have a perfectly manageable caseload and still be carrying vicarious trauma. Reducing their hours will not fix it.
The symptoms mirror primary trauma, which is why people often do not recognise them in themselves:
Managers usually notice the behaviour before the person does. That gap is where most of the damage happens.
Under the Model WHS Regulations, exposure to traumatic events or traumatic material is a named psychosocial hazard. That puts it in the same category as bullying, violence and unreasonable job demands: a hazard a PCBU has a duty to identify, assess and control so far as is reasonably practicable.
Safe Work Australia’s guidance is clear that awareness alone does not discharge that duty. Organisations are expected to show they have identified the exposure, put controls in place and reviewed whether those controls work.
Training is one control among several, and it works best alongside supervision, caseload management and role rotation. Many organisations run this workshop as part of a broader psychosocial hazards training program so the duty is addressed across all the hazards, not just this one.
The workshop is built around what people can actually do differently on Monday, not around trauma theory.
Teams in high-exposure roles often pair this with stress management for the day-to-day load, and resilience at work for the recovery side.
Vicarious trauma is concentrated in particular sectors, and we tailor the examples and case material to yours.
Community and social services. Case workers, family services, housing and homelessness, family violence and child protection.
Health and allied health. Nursing, emergency departments, mental health teams, paramedics and allied health in acute settings.
Legal, courts and corrections. Family law, criminal practice, victims’ services, court registry staff, prosecutors and corrections officers.
Government and public-facing roles. Service centre staff, claims and complaints handlers, investigators and regulators who deal with people in crisis.
Contact centres and frontline customer teams. Staff fielding calls from people in acute distress. These teams are frequently overlooked, because the exposure is not in their job title. Organisations often run this alongside customer service skills so the two sit together rather than competing.
Teams who regularly face aggression as well as distress tend to add Mad Bad Sad Tears Abuse and Threats, which covers the behavioural side of difficult interactions.
The training is focused on increasing awareness, protecting mental health, and reducing burnout. Through a hands-on approach, participants gain practical tools to stay grounded while supporting others in demanding environments.
Participants also explore how repeated exposure to distressing situations can affect thinking, behaviour, and decision-making over time. By understanding these patterns, teams are better equipped to respond early and prevent long-term impact.
A strong focus is placed on practical application. Rather than theory alone, this workshop encourages discussion, reflection, and real-world scenarios that mirror the challenges staff face in their roles. This ensures learning is relevant, relatable, and immediately usable in the workplace.
The course also highlights the importance of team-based support systems. Participants learn how to contribute to a workplace culture where people feel safe to speak up, seek support, and look out for one another. This shared responsibility plays a key role in reducing stress and maintaining long-term wellbeing.
By the end of the session, your team will have a clear understanding of how to manage emotional load effectively, support colleagues appropriately, and maintain professional boundaries without compromising care or performance.
Duration: Half-day or full-day. The full day allows time for scenario work and team planning.
Delivery: In-person at your workplace, or virtually on our platform or yours.
Group size: We recommend 8 to 16 participants. Smaller groups allow discussion; larger groups shift the session towards awareness-raising.
Audience: Can be run for frontline staff, for managers and supervisors, or as separate sessions for each. Manager sessions include recognising and responding to vicarious trauma in a team, which pairs well with courageous conversations.
Tailoring: Every session is built around your sector, your case material and your existing support structures.
Tailored to your actual material. We ask what your people are exposed to before we build the session. A child protection team and a complaints line need different examples.
Facilitated by practitioners. Sessions are led by facilitators with clinical and workplace experience, not read from a deck.
Psychologically safe by design. The workshop is structured so participants are never pushed to disclose. People take what they need without being exposed in front of colleagues.
Delivered where you are. In-house at your workplace or virtually, anywhere in Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
