Interpersonal leader responses to secondary trauma in nonprofit human service organizations

Secondary trauma is concerned with the intrapersonal affective responses an individual can experience during or subsequent to an interaction(s) with another person who recounts his or her personal stories of abuse, trauma, or disempowerment. Secondary trauma can engender a host of detrimental intrapersonal effects on nonprofit staff who express empathy toward clients experiencing primary trauma. I explore the interpersonal-level responses to secondary trauma-affected staff available to the leaders of nonprofit human service organizations. These secondary trauma-sensitive leader behaviors, I theorize, will reduce the prevalence of secondary trauma in nonprofit organizations and generate follower engagement.