Some jobs expose workers to direct trauma -- military service, firefighters, war correspondents and first responders, for instance. Along with the in-the-moment dangers, workers in these jobs are at high risk for PTSD.
But even those who are a step removed from traumatic events can suffer symptoms similar to PTSD from repeatedly hearing or seeing images of life-threatening, devastating or fatal events. This is known as secondary or vicarious trauma. Susceptible professionals include those who work in medicine, including mental health care; disaster relief; the legal and justice systems; victim services and the news industry.
The past several months have felt particularly heavy, especially for those closely following news coverage of wars, conflicts and humanitarian crises. For advice on staying hopeful while doing hard work in hard times, I reached out to Stacy Bearden Zavala, who is the guardian ad litem for Potter County, Texas. She is also my dear friend and former college roommate, whom I’ve known for decades to be a cheerful, persistent force for good even while doing difficult work in service to others.
I wanted to know how she manages to stay positive, happy and hopeful when work and the news constantly expose her to traumatic images and stories. As someone in the day-to-day trenches of trying to make the world a little better, she had great advice to share. Below is some of our conversation.
-- Aisha Sultan: You work with children who are in crisis. What exactly is your role and what does it involve?
-- Stacy Bearden Zavala: I am the attorney for all the kids who have Child Protective Services cases that originate out of Potter County in Amarillo, Texas. My client load varies, but generally, it is about 300 kids and they are placed all over the state. Some we work with while they stay with parents, some are placed with relatives, some in foster homes and some in group homes or more restrictive residential treatment centers.
-- A.S.: What are some of the circumstances of the children you serve?
-- S.B.Z.: I currently have kiddos in psych hospitals and juvenile detention and 17-year-olds in adult jail. I work with kids who have been sex-trafficked and who have been born addicted to drugs, and many have some really strong behavior issues. And I actually would describe myself as probably the happiest I have ever been in my adult life (on average, of course. There are definitely horrible, no-good, rotten days).
-- A.S.: How do you manage to feel that way given the intensity of the work you are doing? You are exposed to children facing terrible outcomes, many of whom started out in life experiencing great trauma.
-- S.B.Z.: When work is especially heavy, I try to limit my other bad news exposure. If I do not need to know right now -- or more importantly, if there is nothing I personally can do about it right now -- I just turn it off for a while. I have gone weeks trying to limit national/international news. Now, you have to jump back in when the work emotional burden is lighter because we need to be informed citizens. You just don’t have to carry every issue every day.
This one is the most important for me: Action. Before I did this work full-time, I knew all of these bad things existed -- maybe not all the details, by any means, but it still weighs on you. My emotional outlook has actually gotten so much better in this job because there is action. Yes, these situations are horrible, but I am doing what I can to help. Sometimes I still feel helpless, but you then move on to the next action you can take.
Also, meeting the helpers. This is so intertwined with the personal action. When you act, you are making connections with all the other helpers. I work with therapists, caseworkers, medical professionals, educators, lawyers, judges, volunteers, foster families, biological families. We may have different perspectives on how to help, but we are all trying. Some of the best people I have ever met have been people I have connected with under horrible circumstances. It makes you feel hopeful that there is this whole network of people who think and worry and try about the same things you do. These people are great for your soul.
You have to actively seek out happiness and give yourself permission, time and opportunity to celebrate good and happy things, even when (especially when) other things are so heavy.
Focus the majority of your time and attention on something in your local area of control. Actually, get more involved and make those human connections with others, and then step away and really try to celebrate when there is something good.