Resilience and Self Care in the Workplace

No One Does a Perfect Interview: The Importance of Resiliency for Forensic Interviewers

This presentation is the culmination of years working in a system that is life changing, ever-changing and heart breaking all at the same time. Attendees will interact with other interviewers and discuss interviewing difficulties to include linguistic challenges, child development issues and children that can’t tell us what happened. The daily
challenges of conducting interviews of children that have been brutalized is not only tough on your brain, it also makes an impression on your consciousness. The impact of this work may not be apparent at the start of your career and the effect of interviewing thousands of abused and neglected children isn’t discussed frequently, candidly and openly. Presenters will address vicarious trauma and taking care of you not only in the workplace but also your personal life and tactics to ensure longevity in the field.

Learning Objectives:
1.  Address challenges and difficulties in forensic interviews based on real case studies.
2. Offer suggestions on removing linguistic hurdles in the forensic interview.
3. Explore the link between working in a system of disarray and how that affects overall
well-being of a forensic interviewer.
4. Recognize how vicarious trauma impacts a forensic interviewer and tactics to employ
in your personal and professional life.

This presentation is focused on the daily work of a forensic interviewer and the intended
audience includes forensic interviewers, supervisors to forensic interviewers and other
professionals who are trained to conduct forensic interviews. Forensic interviewing exists in a
multidisciplinary team model and the investigative process often relies on forensic interviews.

Reflect. Refuel. Reset: Impacts of Secondary Trauma in the Workplace

Our understanding of the impact of working in high trauma-exposed, high-stress workplaces continues to grow and evolve.  In addition to secondary trauma exposure, other factors add to the complexities of the impact of this work on child abuse professionals, children’s advocacy centers, and multidisciplinary teams. In this workshop, we will explore the impacts on individuals and organizations. We will also discuss strategies that promote a healthy, resilient organizational culture.

Learning Objectives:

1. Discuss the complexity of secondary trauma exposure on individuals and organizations
2. Explore impacts on individuals and organizations
3. Discover individual and organizational strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of secondary trauma.