Vicarious resilience: traversing the path from client to clinician through a search for meaning

Life-threatening illness such as cancer may lead to existential distress, fears about dying, and questioning our legacy and impact on those around us. Building on the foundation of meaning-focused interventions in cancer care and the significance of the therapeutic alliance, the paradigm of vicarious resilience can inform oncology social work, serving as a means of growth, resilience, and self-care for clinicians. Vicarious resilience is the strength clinicians may experience through clients’ resilience in facing adversity, and the meaning that practitioners can gain from supporting individuals through traumatic situations, namely life-threatening illness. Social workers in the field of oncology are at risk for vicarious traumatization and compassion fatigue, as they walk alongside clients through suffering and loss, while also positioned to experience vicarious resilience and meaning through the resilience displayed by clients. This paper will examine the potential benefits of vicarious resilience in the field, and through enhancing psychoeducation and incorporating it into training and supervision, it can be brought to the fore as a paradigm in cancer care, offering a means to support practitioners. A case study involving a composite client navigating her cancer journey will be shared, illustrating the companionship and vicarious resilience through the oncology social work relationship.