Strengths and secondary trauma in family violence work.

The strengths perspective has been a unique contribution by the field of social work to the understanding of the helper-client relationship. This article explores the utility of the strengths perspective as a conceptual framework for research in a qualitative study of secondary trauma with counselors of battered women. An emphasis on strengths allowed the researcher to identify strategies and resources that prevented symptoms of secondary trauma in the majority of counselors. These strengths include a sense of competence about their coping, maintaining an objective motivation for their work, resolving their own personal traumas, drawing on early positive role models of coping, and having buffering personal beliefs. Implications for social work practice, education, and research are discussed.