When you listen to other people’s suffering long enough, you end up carrying it.
Some professions require stepping into other people’s stories. Listening to them. Absorbing their emotions. Remaining present even when the pain spills over.
We naturally think of doctors, firefighters, and psychologists—but also lawyers, mediators, workplace confidential advisers, harassment officers, and, within organisations, often-overlooked roles such as health and safety managers or HR professionals.
All these professions share one common denominator: listening to people who have experienced difficult, sometimes violent or traumatic situations.
Repeated exposure to accounts of suffering is not neutral. It leaves traces. It can alter professional judgement, weaken one’s sense of identity, and undermine emotional safety—especially in the absence of appropriate training or supervision.
Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma: what’s the difference?
Compassion fatigue refers to the emotional and professional exhaustion experienced by people who are regularly exposed to others’ distress. It often manifests as fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances, or reduced concentration. It is a warning signal that one’s capacity to support and accompany others is being stretched.
Vicarious trauma, by contrast, has a deeper impact. It affects identity, core beliefs, and one’s perception of the world as a result of repeated exposure to other people’s trauma. It is not a direct trauma, but a gradual emotional and cognitive erosion. It does not always present as visible exhaustion, yet it can durably change how a person understands and relates to the world.
💡 Compassion fatigue can increase the risk of vicarious trauma. However, vicarious trauma can also develop without obvious exhaustion, particularly when traumatic accounts are intense or recurrent.
Warning signs not to ignore
What makes vicarious trauma particularly insidious is that it affects those whose role is precisely to support others. It is not limited to care professions, but concerns any professional receiving disclosures, complaints, or accounts of distress—even when they fully master their role.
Symptoms may be subtle at first, then become entrenched over time. The most common include:
Relational and behavioural changes: irritability, emotional detachment, cynicism, loss of empathy
Emotional and cognitive exhaustion: fatigue, sleep disturbances, reduced concentration
Psychological impact: intrusive thoughts, feelings of overload or injustice
In organisations too, those who listen must be protected
In Switzerland, to reduce the risks of fraud, conflict, and harassment, employers increasingly implement a Workplace Confidential Adviser (WCA) system—an internal or external role providing a confidential listening space for employees who are targets or witnesses of fraud, harassment, or discrimination.
In France, harassment officers play a similar role by receiving reports and directing individuals toward appropriate resources.
WCAs and harassment officers are particularly exposed because they serve as the first point of contact and are required to:
- Receive accounts that are sometimes fragmented or chaotic
- Welcome emotions that are often poorly tolerated at work: fear, shame, anger
- Navigate a delicate space that is both emotional and legal, where every word matters
Over time, repeated exposure to painful accounts can distort perceptions, weaken professional identity, and compromise emotional safety. Without rigorous training and proper supervision, the risk of overload is significant.
How can you protect yourself?
Here are three key levers to prevent listening roles from becoming a source of personal vulnerability.
1. Get trained
Develop solid competencies: active listening, risk situation analysis, emotional regulation, and legal frameworks.
Learn how to set boundaries, structure interviews, and adopt a professional posture that protects both the helper and the person being supported.
2. Establish personal self-care practices
Schedule regular periods of rest to recharge.
Create closure rituals after each sensitive conversation.
Engage in activities that calm the nervous system: breathing, meditation, movement, etc.
Limit exposure to traumatic content outside of work, for example by reducing continuous or anxiety-inducing news consumption.
3. Access supervision with an external expert
Create regular opportunities to offload emotional burden.
Analyse complex situations.
Strengthen professional practice and restore meaning.
A tailored training programme for responsible employers
🛟 Rezalliance has designed a structured pathway, based on a proven methodology, to train Workplace Harassment Officers (WHO) over 7 days and 7 modules.
This comprehensive programme combines law, psychology, sociology, listening posture, emotional regulation, and complex case management. It also includes ongoing supervision after the training, providing a safety net, continuity, and a space to keep growing in the role.
The result: harassment officers who are operational, reliable, and protected in their role.
Why this matters today
Many organisations state their commitment to inclusive work environments, yet preventing psychosocial risks and harassment remains complex—especially when listening mechanisms are insufficient. Harassment officers are on the front line. They must be trained, supported, and supervised to carry out their role safely.
This is not a luxury. It is a safety requirement for those whose job is to protect others.
📧 Is your anti-harassment framework robust enough?
Have you identified individuals within your organisation who are truly equipped to receive the voices of employees in distress?
Send a message to contact@rezalliance.com for an exploratory discussion to determine together the solutions best suited to your organisation.
📕 Further reading
- Revue Médicale Suisse: Compassion fatigue—an unavoidable reality in a pandemic context: psychological and organisational implications.
- Institut Français d’EMDR (IFEMDR): Vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and professional burnout—how therapists can protect themselves.
- Pearlman, L. A., & Mac Ian, P. S. (1995). Vicarious traumatization: Effects of trauma work on trauma therapists. A qualitative study on the impact of repeated exposure to traumatic narratives.
- Newell, J. M., & MacNeil, G. A. (2010). Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue. Best Practices in Mental Health. A theoretical review of occupational risks linked to indirect exposure to suffering and prevention strategies.
- Bride, B. E. (2007). Prevalence of Secondary Traumatic Stress among Social Workers. Social Work. At least 40% of social workers exposed to traumatic narratives develop symptoms of secondary traumatic stress.
- Dr Arielle Schwartz: Practical guidance on preventing professional burnout among therapists.
Discover our solutions for healthy and equitable workplaces ⤵️
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📡 Learn more about our public awareness work through International Day Against Harassment and for Inclusion in the World of Workhttps://24may.org/en/.