The Cost of Justice:  A Desk Manual on Vicarious Trauma

Events such as the enormous press coverage following an address respecting the Bernardo trial by Mr. Justice Patrick LeSage has added to the growing recognition that the routine exposure to caustic stories, histories and oral and visual evidence has corrosive consequences to the health and well-being of judges, lawyers and other helpers.

How do lawyers, judges and others, who deal with horrible facts, histories and stories, on a daily basis, find a way to cope? How do they keep their peace of mind? How do they recognize they may be suffering and need help? These questions and others are addressed in the following papers on Vicarious Traumatization and Secondary Traumatic Stress.

• Forward by The Honourable Justice Paul Reinhardt
• Trauma Definitions
• First Contact
• Vicarious Traumatization: The Corrosive Consequences of Law Practice for Criminal Justice and Family Law Practitioners by: Donald C. Murray, Q.C. and Johnette M. Royer
• Supporting the Traumatized Legal Practitioner by Dr. Heather Fiske, Psychologist
• Training Peer Volunteers to Work With Secondary Traumatic Stress ~ Dr. Jennifer Favell, Ph.D., Program Psychologist, Washington State Bar Lawyers Assistance Program, Seattle, Washington