Karen’s practical training will give your public-facing staff the skills and understanding they need to deal with distressed clients, and their own experiences.

“In a lengthy career reporting on calamity and chaos, I have come to value taking a trauma-informed approach to myself and my interview subjects, because understanding and empathy bring better results for me and my journalism,” Karen says.

It was almost thirty years into my career, seven of those as a foreign correspondent, when I really noticed the effects of the stories I had been covering – natural disasters, political unrest, civil protests, a military coup, a political assassination, criminal court cases and more. It was the 2014 murder of Luke Batty that led me to confront the build up of vicarious trauma I had experienced. It was not a pretty sight, and shocked my colleagues to see the hardened, veteran former foreign correspondent in a puddle of tears!!  (can we put this in a side box or otherwise set it apart as a “personal ‘from Karen’ type of content”??

You don’t have to be a frontline emergency worker or a journalist at a disaster scene to be affected by the work you do. 

Call-centre workers, receptionists, insurance assessors, membership services teams, sales staff, service staff, indeed ANYONE who talks to distressed customers or clients, is at potential risk. 

Vicarious trauma comes in many forms, sometimes from the most unexpected quarters in the most unlikely of situations.

There is no one-size-fits-all. But there are effective ways to manage the mental health impact on staff who are dealing with distressed and traumatised clients.

Mental health issues are costing the Australia economy billions – in absenteeism, payouts to workers and lost productivity. Governments are starting to pay attention and employers are being required to pay heed to the mental and psychological state of their workers.

Trauma-informed best practice entails considering a person’s experiences, how that might be affecting their behaviour, and responding appropriately.

It starts with destigmatising mental health issues and normalising conversations about mental well-being. Then it’s about recognising the ways mental health issues can affect behaviour and responding in a way that supports and gives agency to clients and staff.

When staff feel equipped to handle what’s in front of them their job satisfaction improves, there’s lower absenteeism, lower turnover of staff.

By sharing her experiences Karen can help you and your company to:

• understand what trauma is, especially vicarious trauma
• recognise it in yourself, your colleagues, your clients
• adjust work environments to support better mental health 
• manage trauma-related events in your work and your life 
• take a trauma-informed approach if you or your staff are dealing with vulnerable people and those exposed to trauma
• utilise self-care tips and tools
• prepare a self-care plan
• look at short, medium and long term ways to improve mental health

From 2020-2022, Karen was Chair of the Dart Centre Asia-Pacific – which focuses on trauma in the media – and took part in two trauma-in-journalism fellowships at Columbia University in 2018 and 2019.

Karen was part of the ABC’s world-class Peer Supporter program from 2014-2020, where staff trained to understand the effects of trauma, looked out for each other while covering difficult news events. During the early days of the pandemic, Karen held regular webinars for ABC staff to provide support and resources as they endured lockdowns, hostile audiences and industry turmoil.

She’s held webinars for journalists, lawyers, unionists and others to pass on her skills and knowledge in trauma-informed best-practice.