Vicarious Trauma: Definition and Who It Affects

Vicarious trauma is a lasting change in how you see the world, safety, and other people that develops from repeated empathetic exposure to someone else’s traumatic material, not from experiencing the event yourself. It’s most common among therapists, first responders, medical staff, social workers, journalists, interpreters, and other helpers who regularly hear or witness other people’s trauma.

Where does the term come from?

Psychologists Lisa McCann and Laurie Pearlman coined “vicarious traumatization” in a 1990 paper in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. They found that trauma therapists’ own beliefs about safety, trust, and control could shift after repeated, empathetic contact with clients’ traumatic stories. The APA Dictionary of Psychology now defines vicarious traumatization as a real, recognized response that develops through that kind of empathetic engagement.

Who does vicarious trauma affect?

The term started with therapists, but it reaches well beyond that one profession. Per a 2021 review in American Family Physician, family physicians are vicariously exposed to trauma every time a patient describes domestic violence, war, gun violence, child abuse, homelessness, or a life-changing diagnosis. First responders, social workers, journalists, interpreters, judges, and humanitarian aid workers face similar repeated exposure. Family members supporting someone through their own trauma can feel a version of this too.

How is it different from burnout?

Burnout is exhaustion from chronic, general workplace stress, and it can happen in any job. Vicarious trauma is more specific: the AAFP review describes it as an internalized change in worldview and a disturbed sense of safety, not just drained energy. It places vicarious trauma on a spectrum with secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue, whose overlapping signs include intrusive images, hypervigilance, and disrupted sleep.

What actually helps?

Start with stabilization, not the hard material: a grounding or calm-place practice steadies your own nervous system before you try to process anything charged. Go slow, working with one small piece at a time in short sessions, since vicarious trauma builds up gradually, not all at once. If distress rises above 7 out of 10 and won’t settle, stop, use grounding, and loop in supervision, consultation, or your own therapist; our guide to finding an EMDR therapist can help if that’s the direction you choose.

EmEase, a self-guided EMDR app, offers bilateral stimulation you can practice on your own time, at app.emease.com. It supports your own day-to-day regulation; it isn’t a substitute for supervision, consultation, or your own therapy when the weight runs deep.