Psychological experiences and vicarious traumatization of Thai medical social workers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64838/jmht.2025.274036Keywords:
medical social workers, psychological growth, traumatizationAbstract
Objective: To explore the psychological experiences and growth of Thai medical social workers from perceiving suffering of service users
Methods: This qualitative study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine the lived experiences of six Thai medical social workers, selected through snowball sampling. Data were gathered via semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted between September 2023 and June 2024.
Results: Three key themes emerged from the analysis: 1) the negative effects of perceiving the suffering of service users on emotions, feelings, cognition, and daily life, 2) psychological growth from perceiving the suffering of service users in terms of internal values, relationships with others, the value of life, and the value of work, and 3) managing negative effects through seeking social support and adaptive coping strategies.
Conclusion: Thai medical social workers experience both the harmful impacts of vicarious traumatization and the constructive outcomes of vicarious posttraumatic growth. The findings underscore the critical role of social support and self-care practices in helping social workers mitigate the adverse effects of their profession, while fostering resilience and growth.
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