Family functioning, burnout and secondary traumatic stress among psychologists

Psychologists often work in emotionally driven environments, regularly dealing with clients’ trauma and distress which leads to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Family is considered as one of the vital sources of support. Hence, this study investigates the relationship between family functioning, burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS) among psychologists. It is a correlational design and a data of 254 psychologists was collected in India through standardized tools. The results of this study exhibited that psychologists from dysfunctional family environments reported higher levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and STS. Additionally, poor family functioning was also linked to slightly higher levels of personal achievement, possibly indicating a coping mechanism where individuals channelize their energy into work for a sense of purpose. It was also seen that burnout and STS did not vary much based on the experience level of the psychologist. These findings emphasize on the importance of recognizing personal life factors, like family functioning to understand occupational stressors. Hence, supporting psychologists both at work and home could be the key to promote long-term well-being and resilience in the field.