Investigating Race-related Stress, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress for Black Mental Health Therapists

Abstract

The present study examined the relationships among burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and race-related stress among a national sample of 250 Black mental health therapists (counselors, social workers, psychologists, and marriage and family therapists). We investigated the predictive nature of the three subscales (Individual Racism, Cultural Racism, and Institutional Racism) of the Index of Race-Related Stress–Brief Version (IRRS-B) and selected demographic variables on therapists’ reports of burnout and STS assessed on the Professional Quality of Life Scale–Version 5 (ProQOL-5). All three forms of race-related stress significantly predicted both burnout and STS for Black mental health therapists. Of the demographic variables, hours worked per week significantly predicted burnout and STS. Additionally, highest degree obtained significantly predicted STS for Black mental health therapists. The utility of these findings in understanding the connections among race-related stress, burnout, and STS are discussed as well as directions for future research.