Researcher: Many former Beloit teachers report vicarious trauma, limited administrative support

Doctor Stephanie Hormick, a researcher and director of the LGBTQ program at Family Services of Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, told the School District of Beloit Teaching, Learning, Equity & Pupil Services Committee that retired district teachers she interviewed reported widespread secondary (vicarious) trauma and inconsistent support from school administration.

"Two thirds of all the children that are in the schools have experienced one traumatic event by the age of 18," Hormick told the committee, summarizing national context she used to frame her dissertation research in Beloit. She said her study focused on secondary vicarious trauma among K–12 educators — the stress and symptoms that result from repeatedly hearing students' trauma reports rather than from directly experiencing the traumatic event.

Hormick described interviews conducted inside the Beloit district, initially with 14 retired teachers and later expanding to 25. She said peer support was common — "10 out of the 14 participants in the original 14 said that they relied on their peers for the emotional support and the guidance" — but that many…