The concept of trauma is not originally Buddhist, making

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the recommendations and future work and stated challenges and future-work section of the source papers, classified as general, drawn from work published between 2024 and 2026, spanning 4 journals.

Supporting evidence — 6 representative gaps

• Post-traumatic stress status among emergency department nurses during the winter H1N1 influenza season and correlations with burnout, coping, resilience, and support (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi

  Given the high prevalence of PTSD among emergency department nurses and its strong associations with occupational burnout, maladaptive coping styles, low resilience, and reduced social support, the study underscores the urgent need for targeted, institution-level interventions. Hospital administrations and nursing managers should prioritize the implementation of structured support systems. These may include the creation of peer-led or professionally facilitated support groups, where nurses can process stress in a safe, nonjudgmental setting. Additionally, training programs in evidence-based coping strategies, such as cognitive- behavioral techniques or mindfulness-based stress reduction, could enhance positive coping and reduce emotional exhaustion. Initiatives to boost psychological resilience—such as resilience workshops, mentorship programs, or resilience coaching—can help staff adapt more effectively to acute stressors. Furthermore, efforts to increase access to and utilization of social support, both within and beyond the workplace (e.g., employee assistance programs, supervisor check-ins, team-based bonding activities), are essential in mitigating the impact of occupational trauma. These interventions should be  tailored to the high-intensity, fast-paced nature of emergency departments and ideally be evaluated through future longitudinal studies to assess their long-term impact on mental health outcomes. Implementing stress management programs, reducing excessive workloads, and promoting a healthy work-life balance can lower burnout, which is a key risk factor for PTSD. Encouraging practices like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises can help manage stress before it escalates into PTSD. Programs focused on reframing negative experiences and developing emotional regulation skills can enhance resilience, while Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can assist individuals in restructuring negative thoughts and building coping mechanisms to deal with traumatic memories.

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: resilience programs coping support stress ptsd based high emergency nurses occupational burnout social interventions cognitive
• Vicarious traumatisation: Experiences of social workers working with intimate partner violence victims in victim empowerment programmes (2026) · Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk · doi

  The following recommendations are made for social work practice in victim empowerment. Individual support: To strengthen social workers’ capabilities in rendering victim empowerment services through: • Advocating for the adoption of self-care and resilience practices. It is crucial to enable social workers to prioritise self-care and engage in behaviours that promote resilience in order to reduce the impact of vicarious trauma. • Regular debriefing services by internal and external partners to help neutralise trauma experiences. Given the centres' daily caseload, debriefing needs to be structured as a weekly activity for service implementers. • Peer review sessions, which should be incorporated into the daily routine to establish the emotional state of service implementers and provide emotional support; • Self-care programmes for implementers, which need to be prioritised and funded by the funding entities when designing grant activities; • Self-care strategies, which need to be incorporated into personal development for implementers. Because of the caring nature of professionals working with violence, self-care is considered one of the most important preventive strategies for dealing with compassion fatigue. Implementers could be capacitated to identify and address the source of stress. • Courses for employees on mindfulness meditation and offering wellness programmes that motivate social workers to integrate self-care practices into their daily routines, bolstering their resilience in dealing with vicarious trauma. Organisational support: Organisations can raise awareness of compassion fatigue, its causes, risk factors, and effective interventions, as many organisational managers are unaware of its nature and the potential for it to lead to burnout. Organisations can offer tools and training programmes focusing on mindfulness, stress management, and self-care practices. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk, 2026: 62(1) 122 Organisational support can also include creating a supportive environment. Trauma-informed workplaces recognise the influence of vicarious trauma and prioritise the welfare of social workers. Organisations can establish policies that support adaptability, offer mental health services, and foster a healthy equilibrium between work and personal life. To achieve this, managers, peers (colleagues, and inter-professional support can play a significant role. An increase in the number of staff who are skilled and trained to address IPV, along with a corresponding increase in the staff budget, would equip social workers to perform their core functions and responsibilities, thereby improving VE service delivery and establishing work environments that account for the impact of trauma.

  generalrecommendationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: social self care support workers trauma implementers services resilience practices vicarious daily service programmes organisational
• School Counselors’ Challenges with Shared Earthquake Trauma During the Counseling Process: The Wounded Healer (2026) · School Mental Health · doi

  One of the strengths of qualitative research is its capacity to deeply explore unique and underexamined phenomena (Creswell & Poth, 2016). The professional challenges faced by those providing psychological services in the context of large-scale, collective traumas such as earthquakes remain a relatively unexplored area in the counseling literature (Kim & Han, 2021). The findings of this study may inform the development of more comprehensive policies and interventions aimed at addressing the challenges encountered by counselors working under the influence of shared trauma. This study offers a detailed understanding of the difficulties wounded healer school counselors face while supporting clients with whom they share traumatic experiences. When shared traumas are recent or unresolved, wounded healers are at increased risk for emotional exhaustion and burnout (Geoffrion et al., 2016). In this context, psychological resilience emerges as a crucial factor in mitigating the impact of trauma and maintaining counselors’ emotional and professional well-being (Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2011). Enhancing psychological resilience is particularly vital for counselors operating in high-stakes environments affected by widespread trauma. Accordingly, better-structured and sustained opportunities for trauma-informed training, supervision, and personal therapy are needed. Although some trauma-related training and peer support from outside the affected regions were available, our findings indicate that these resources were typically short-term and insufficient in scope. Furthermore, our findings suggest that counselors working in disaster-affected areas often believe that external professionals cannot fully understand or address the needs of traumatized clients. This belief underscores the importance of empowering wounded healer counselors already embedded in these communities. These counselors are often more familiar with the students, families, and systemic dynamics, and they are uniquely positioned to provide culturally and emotionally relevant care (Conchar & Repper, 2014). Thus, prioritizing sustained support for locally based mental health professionals with shared trauma experiences may lead to better outcomes for clients. A critical finding of this study was the recognition among participants that shared trauma frequently led to shifts from empathy to sympathy and increased levels of self-disclosure. While most School Mental Health (2026) 18:270–2841 3counselors perceived their self-disclosure as more beneficial than harmful, they also acknowledged the potential risks. For this reason, it is essential to clarify the dual nature of shared trauma; its potential to foster connection and empathy, as well as its risks to therapeutic boundaries and counselor well-being.

  generalfuture workevidence 5/5
  Keywords: counselors trauma shared psychological wounded clients well affected challenges context traumas healer school experiences increased
• School Counselors’ Challenges with Shared Earthquake Trauma During the Counseling Process: The Wounded Healer (2026) · School Mental Health · doi

  The study highlights the challenges faced by school counselors who have experienced shared earthquake trauma with their clients. The research emphasizes the need for professional support systems for counselors working within collective trauma contexts. The study reveals the emotional dynamics occurring within counseling sessions.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: study highlights challenges faced school counselors have experienced
• A Qualitative Study of Buddhist Counseling on Traumatized Clients: Counseling Practices of Seven Experienced Buddhist Counselors (2024) · Mitteilungen Klosterneuburg · doi

  Further studies can be conducted to examine the effectiveness of Buddhist counseling in addressing trauma. The study's findings can be used to inform the development of Buddhist counseling approaches for trauma. Future research can explore the role of Buddhist principles in other forms of counseling and psychotherapy.

  generalfuture-work sectionevidence 5/5
  Keywords: further studies conducted examine effectiveness buddhist counseling addressing
• A Qualitative Study of Buddhist Counseling on Traumatized Clients: Counseling Practices of Seven Experienced Buddhist Counselors (2024) · Mitteilungen Klosterneuburg · doi

  The concept of trauma is not originally Buddhist, making it challenging to understand and address in a Buddhist counseling context. The incorporation of Buddhist principles into counseling and psychotherapy can be challenging due to the lack of understanding of the Buddhist conceptualization of trauma.

  generalstated challengesevidence 5/5
  Keywords: concept trauma originally buddhist making challenging understand address

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