For researchers whose work engages them with the traumatic experiences of others. With support from the South and East Network for Social Sciences Doctoral Training, we will hold a workshop on vicarious trauma arising from research at the campus of University of Essex on 16 October.
The Vicarious Trauma Workshop is designed for researchers whose work engages them with the traumatic experiences of others. It aims to help researchers manage the exceptional emotional and psychological demands this kind of research can place on them, and to reduce the risk of vicarious traumatisation.
The Workshop has clear relevance to research contexts including conflict, genocide, natural disaster, domestic violence, incarceration, sexual abuse, and displacement, and is open to researchers working in these and other challenging contexts. The workshop may also be helpful for staff members supervising students who are engaged in such work, and those not engaged in fieldwork but who are exposed to the traumatic experiences of others via documents, images, recorded material and/or data.
Workshop content is as follows:
Morning (9:30 am – 1 pm): Introduction to Vicarious Trauma: what it is, how it typically develops, signs and symptoms to watch for, and 5 broad strategies to prevent VT and mitigate its effects when it occurs.
Afternoon (2 – 4:30pm): Practical tools and techniques: cultivating awareness of sympathetic nervous system arousal; practical tools to reduce sympathetic nervous system arousal and mitigate stress/disturbance in the present; techniques from the trauma psychotherapist toolkit to enable you to process traumatic experiences effectively on your own.
The workshop is led by Maureen Freed, a UPCA and UKCP-accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with a particular interest in trauma—how individuals are affected by it, and how they can overcome it. Until recently she was Deputy Head of the Oxford University Counselling Service, where she worked for nearly 20 years and where, in 2016, she led the development of a specialist trauma clinic. She is currently Scholar Mental Health Adviser for the Rhodes Trust; teaches on the Psychodynamic Studies Masters Programme at Oxford University; and is a psychotherapist in private practice where she specialises in working with academics and others whose work presents exceptional emotional and psychological demands.
The workshop will be in person only. There is no charge for the workshop, but please note that we do not have funding to cover travel to the workshop at the University of Essex. People interested in attending the workshop should register at the below form, before 1 September 2025.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=y_gpobBJa02NeYiQUNqRmD9rrNW8noRDiFThVDttvUVUOEJWUVJDUEtZR0tXVTFNMjg3VVpOTldPSi4u
Due to the nature of the workshop the size of the group of attendees will be limited, and we may not be able to accommodate all interested participants. The workshop is in principle open to all interested staff and parties, but if we have more applicants than we will accommodate then we will prioritize in descending order 1) SeNSS funded students, 2) SeNSS supervisors, and 3) student or staff from SeNSS institutions.
If you have any other specific questions about the content of the workshop, please email Maureen Freed who will be leading the workshop: maureen.freedadmin.ox.ac.uk.
For any other questions about the organization of the workshop please contact Kristian Skrede Gleditsch ksgessex.ac.uk
More information and an FAQ document can be found attached here.
16/10/2025 9:30
16/10/2025 16:30
Europe/London
Vicarious Trauma Workshop - University of Essex
For researchers whose work engages them with the traumatic experiences of others. With support from the South and East Network for Social Sciences Doctoral Training, we will hold a workshop on vicarious trauma arising from research at the campus of University of Essex on 16 October.
The Vicarious Trauma Workshop is designed for researchers whose work engages them with the traumatic experiences of others. It aims to help researchers manage the exceptional emotional and psychological demands this kind of research can place on them, and to reduce the risk of vicarious traumatisation.
The Workshop has clear relevance to research contexts including conflict, genocide, natural disaster, domestic violence, incarceration, sexual abuse, and displacement, and is open to researchers working in these and other challenging contexts. The workshop may also be helpful for staff members supervising students who are engaged in such work, and those not engaged in fieldwork but who are exposed to the traumatic experiences of others via documents, images, recorded material and/or data.
Workshop content is as follows:
Morning (9:30 am – 1 pm): Introduction to Vicarious Trauma: what it is, how it typically develops, signs and symptoms to watch for, and 5 broad strategies to prevent VT and mitigate its effects when it occurs.
Afternoon (2 – 4:30pm): Practical tools and techniques: cultivating awareness of sympathetic nervous system arousal; practical tools to reduce sympathetic nervous system arousal and mitigate stress/disturbance in the present; techniques from the trauma psychotherapist toolkit to enable you to process traumatic experiences effectively on your own.
The workshop is led by Maureen Freed, a UPCA and UKCP-accredited counsellor and psychotherapist with a particular interest in trauma—how individuals are affected by it, and how they can overcome it. Until recently she was Deputy Head of the Oxford University Counselling Service, where she worked for nearly 20 years and where, in 2016, she led the development of a specialist trauma clinic. She is currently Scholar Mental Health Adviser for the Rhodes Trust; teaches on the Psychodynamic Studies Masters Programme at Oxford University; and is a psychotherapist in private practice where she specialises in working with academics and others whose work presents exceptional emotional and psychological demands.
The workshop will be in person only. There is no charge for the workshop, but please note that we do not have funding to cover travel to the workshop at the University of Essex. People interested in attending the workshop should register at the below form, before 1 September 2025.
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=y_gpobBJa02NeYiQUNqRmD9rrNW8noRDiFThVDttvUVUOEJWUVJDUEtZR0tXVTFNMjg3VVpOTldPSi4u
Due to the nature of the workshop the size of the group of attendees will be limited, and we may not be able to accommodate all interested participants. The workshop is in principle open to all interested staff and parties, but if we have more applicants than we will accommodate then we will prioritize in descending order 1) SeNSS funded students, 2) SeNSS supervisors, and 3) student or staff from SeNSS institutions.
If you have any other specific questions about the content of the workshop, please email Maureen Freed who will be leading the workshop: maureen.freedadmin.ox.ac.uk.
For any other questions about the organization of the workshop please contact Kristian Skrede Gleditsch ksgessex.ac.uk
More information and an FAQ document can be found attached here.