By Rachel Stevens, CPSU Training and Development Consultant
As we mark Mental Health Awareness Day, we wanted to shine the spotlight on the importance of looking after the mental health of safeguarding leads.
In a role that involves managing sensitive, often distressing issues involving children and young people, safeguarding leads and volunteers are susceptible to topics and situations that can deeply impact their own mental health.
In this blog I explore why the mental health of safeguarding leads should be a priority, my personal experience of mental health at work, and the importance of being trauma-informed.
What is vicarious trauma?
Being in a safeguarding role, in any capacity, is demanding, but it’s important to remember that vicarious trauma is real and is something that we can experience at any point throughout our work.
Vicarious trauma is when we’re exposed to someone else’s trauma, and this can have an impact on our own mental health. It is also known as secondary traumatic stress and refers to the emotional residue that we experience from hearing about the first-hand trauma experiences of others. Our response to hearing about a traumatic event will depend on what’s going on for us at the time, both personally and professionally. That’s why it’s so important we look after ourselves.
Protect our time
One of the ways we can look after ourselves is by protecting our time – easier said than done in a fast-paced role.
Working within safeguarding, we may work long hours, we may be on duty, shiftwork, or work weekends, but we still need to make sure we’re using our annual leave, we’re turning our work phone off at the end of the day (if you’re not on duty), scheduling a lunch break, and leaning on the emotional support of team members.
If you’re lucky enough to have a safeguarding team, it’s important to work with them to make important decisions and share the load.
If you work in a safeguarding role full-time, use supervision sessions with your line manager or else talk to your board safeguarding champion or anyone else in your team. Talk about the concerns that arise when appropriate, but also the reflections you take from it – learning points, and the impact it has had on you and the team.
Be a trauma-informed organisation
Being a trauma-informed organisation means creating that safe culture we always talk about. A safe culture whereby we’re keeping the children in our care safe, but also looking after ourselves and our colleagues. Self-care isn’t selfish, it’s essential.
To be the best coach, volunteer or safeguarding lead for our children and young people, we have to be in good mental health. An organisation that recognises the impact trauma and vicarious trauma can have on anyone dealing with safeguarding concerns, and works in a trauma-informed way, is set up for success.
Create a community
Safeguarding is a sector often filled by dedicated volunteers. Sadly, the high responsibility and emotional tole of the role can result in a high turnover.
One key way to reducing turnover is creating a community of safeguarders.
We’re not expecting all coaches or volunteers to be social workers, but ensuring everyone in the organisation understands that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and it’s a positive thing creates that shared responsibility and understanding. If we have a community of people that better understand safeguarding, then safeguarding leads will have more people to support them, reducing the chances of burn-out and symptoms of poor mental health.
Talk about mental health
Mental health is something that everyone has, and just like our physical health, our mental health can go through ups and downs too. It’s important we find the time and safe space to talk about it.
As mentioned already, another key to reducing that staff turnover is the ever-important topic of mental health. If we’re prioritising the wellbeing of our staff, that can only be a positive thing that will make them feel safe and empowered in their roles, but it’ll also trickle down to volunteers and participants.
Make sure mental health is discussed in supervision sessions, that mental health related awareness days are celebrated and championed. Open up the conversation so people feel able to speak about it.
As someone with a history of mental health issues, it’s so reassuring to know that my manager “gets it”. I don’t have to hide if I’m having a bad day, I don’t need to make something up if I need to have a sick day. I ultimately feel supported and safe to speak about my mental health, which improves my work. That hasn’t always been the case with different managers and organisations, and it’s no surprise I no longer work there.
A good idea is when organisations offer mental health days. Whether these are taken by staff or scheduled by teams, it allows staff and volunteers to slow down, regulate their nervous system and come back feeling refreshed.
It’s often said that when you don’t schedule breaks, your body will schedule them for you at the most inconvenient time. Let’s work together to prioritise mental health. Let’s face it, we spend most of our lives working, so let’s make sure it’s a safe and positive place to be.