CATHY: It was four years ago for me. I was dealing with a very difficult post-conviction case, feeling the burden of a large caseload, had personal stress from a divorce, was raising teenagers, and working through a past trauma that I never spoke about. A counselor introduced me to the topic. I really want dialogue around this topic to be more predominant and I reached out to ISHI to see what could be done at their 30th conference. Mental health is so critical in any career and it’s time caseworkers started opening up. Happy caseworkers, happy scientists lead better lives. Carol Bingham at Promega introduced me to Amy and I was happy to see she had been involved in the dialogue of stress, vicarious trauma, burnout as well as strategies to use in the forensic industry. The reason I wanted to bring this topic up at ISHI was one of the main reasons I went into forensics. I wanted to help people. I have witnessed the effects of vicarious trauma in co-workers, family members and of course myself. I felt perhaps the young scientists could learn from my story.

AMY: I was happy Cathy and I were introduced and that she was so vulnerable with me from the start about what led her to learning about vicarious trauma. I hadn’t heard of it either when I initially felt symptoms and just chalked up changes to my own perspectives and the chronic stress I felt as just being part of the job. I felt inadequately supported in my own experiences and looked to other industries that have been more proactive in dealing with tools to combat stress, depression, anxiety and pain. I enrolled in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program which improved my ability to communicate what I was experiencing and provided new tools to use. Although I found little support, I knew I couldn’t be the only one dealing with impact of working in the criminal justice field. I dove into learning as much as I could about resiliency skills to help myself but knew I wanted to be able to pass information along to my colleagues. I have seen over the past couple years that when there are opportunities to connect, such as with the ISHI table discussion or through workshops, it becomes easier for people to open up and seek tools to help themselves.

CATHY: In forensics, I feel the culture is just to do the case, keep your number’s up and once you complete the murder or rape you are working on, grab the next one. Culture in criminal justice values stoicism and there can be a reluctance to discuss anything where we may appear weak.

AMY: When I first started telling people I was bringing mindfulness and resilience to forensics I would get funny looks. Some of my first interactions I received responses such as ‘forensics is just a negative space, its always been this way, it will never change;’ ‘ I think you have to be a special person to do forensics, there needs to be a part in your brain you just close everything you see away in; ‘ I’ve been around since the beginning of AFIS, this is just how the field is.’ The biggest take away from these interactions was that education and awareness was needed first. I’m never one to like the response- that is just how things are- so I set out to change that!

CATHY: Personally, one-way vicarious trauma showed up for me is in how I raised my kids. I was especially fixated on trying to prevent them from being sexually assaulted, a direct response to my caseload and what I witnessed at work. This affected what they were allowed to do and who they spent time with. My sleep was also often affected as I found it hard to stop thinking about the endless tasks at work and managing a CODIS unit. I was often only getting between 2-5 hours of sleep when I was in a place of not effectively managing chronic stress.

AMY: Vicarious trauma can show up psychologically affecting safety, trust, and intimacy; it can affect frame of reference such a world-views and spirituality and it can have a sensory impact on bodily experiences such as feeling numb. Symptoms of vicarious trauma may be feeling on edge a lot or depressed about experiences encountered in casework, avoidance of certain activities or situations because of remembrance of frightening things encountered in casework, or experiencing intrusive thoughts that are hard to let go of resulting from work experiences. Recognition becomes easier when there is education and resources available to employees and when they feel supported by upper level management.

AMY: Discussions around mindfulness in general are more commonly found at Universities but I am not aware of forensic programs that have made it a priority to prepare students in such a way to support their body, mind and spirit as they enter the forensic field. Starting to raise awareness at the University level and integrating resiliency programs will be key to future success. Some agencies are already creating interview techniques to identify people who have coping skills that could be utilized in the face of adversity and filtering out people who might not have developed those skills yet. As resiliency can be cultivated ideally it will be integrated during University studies, in on-boarding training, and continue to be made a priority throughout a person’s career.

CATHY: I don’t believe we spend near enough time honestly talking about the stress of this career. There is a false reality about forensics. We’re not CSI we don’t solve a case in 60 minutes. The TV viewer who thinks this is cool, walks away at the end of the show. As forensic scientists, we may look at evidence over an over again for biological fluid and DNA that have been utilized in sexual assaults and homicides.