Addiction and behavioral health professionals who have repeated contact with trauma survivors can themselves experience vicarious trauma. Vicarious trauma is “second hand” trauma that is passed on to workers when they interact with individuals who experienced trauma “firsthand” or encounter information about the trauma¹. The VOTE Index is an instrument developed to identify:

• What part of a worker’s job expose them to vicarious trauma
• How often they are exposed to vicarious trauma
• How strong the vicarious trauma exposure is

Although measuring symptoms — that include having memory gaps about client/patient interactions or disturbing dreams about these persons — are important, having a tool to adequately measure vicarious trauma ensures determining what caused the symptoms to appear.

Download a copy of the VOTE Index: Narrative format   Table format

¹ Stelson, E., Sabbath, E.L., Chen, L., Sorensen, G., Berkman, L., & Kubzansky, L.D. (2024). The Vicarious Occupational Trauma Exposure (VOTE) Index: Instrument development and validity and reliability assessment with the substance use disorder workforce. Available at https://centerforworkhealth.sph.harvard.edu/resources.