The stress and coping of Israeli emergency room social workers following terrorist attacks

The authors of this qualitative study analyze Israeli hospital social workers ’ emotional responses to working with civilian casualties in the wake of an unprecedented surge of ter-rorist violence. Data are based on four focus groups conducted with 38 hospital social work-ers in relation to their experience with clients in the emergency room. Three themes were identified: (a) Restoring a lost sense of personal security as a necessary stepping-stone toward resuming professional performance, (b) Meeting the families’pain and responding to it and, (c) Disconnecting emotionally in the service of the professional self. The authors dis-cuss the findings in light of the literature on peritraumatic dissociation among helpers