Understanding and Managing Vicarious Trauma for Eye Bank Professionals

Includes a Live Web Event on 09/23/2026 at 1:00 PM (EDT)

Eye bank recovery technicians, call center staff, and many other roles within eye banks routinely work in environments that involve exposure to death, grief, and emotionally complex situations. While this work is deeply meaningful, repeated exposure can lead to vicarious trauma, an often-unrecognized occupational hazard that can impact emotional well-being, job performance, and long-term resilience.

While all eye bank professionals will benefit from this session, this interactive workshop is specifically designed to help supervisors or team leaders understand the nature of vicarious trauma, recognize its signs and symptoms in their staffs, and develop practical strategies to mitigate its effects. Empowering supervisors to take a more proactive role in recognizing issues and preventing burnout will make for a healthier and communicative staff. Participants will explore how cumulative exposure to trauma can influence mental health, relationships, and workplace dynamics, while also learning evidence-based techniques to build resilience and maintain professional effectiveness.

Through discussion, real-world scenarios, and skill-building exercises, this session creates space for reflection, normalization of experiences, and empowerment, supporting staff in sustaining both their well-being and their commitment to the mission of donation and transplantation.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Define vicarious trauma and distinguish it from burnout and compassion fatigue.

2. Identify common signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma in themselves and colleagues, including emotional, cognitive, and behavioral indicators.

3. Understand risk factors specific to ocular recovery work that may increase susceptibility to secondary trauma.

4. Recognize the impact of cumulative exposure to trauma on personal well-being, job performance, and team dynamics.

5. Apply practical coping strategies to reduce the effects of vicarious trauma, including grounding techniques, boundary setting, and self-care practices.

6. Utilize peer and organizational support, including debriefing practices and available mental health resources.

7. Develop a personalized resilience plan to support ongoing emotional health and sustainability in the workplace.

This is a 2-hour interactive workshop.

CEUs: 2

This session is supported by the Misko family and Saving Sight in honor of Jachin Misko. Throughout his career at Saving Sight, Jachin proved himself a leader in technical innovation. Fueled by a passion for excellence, Jachin’s work directly impacted the lives of thousands of corneal transplant recipients. EBAA honors Jachin’s legacy by providing support to EBAA members as they restore sight worldwide. Thank you to Jachin’s family and Saving Sight for sponsoring this session.

Claire Martin, Ph.D, LPC, NCC, ACS, BC-TMH

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapist (TF-CBT) & Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapist

Spring To Life Counseling, LLC

Dr. Martin is a native of Haiti and spent a significant portion of her life in New York City. She is a Nationally Certified and Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri with extensive experience working with individuals, couples, and families. She believes that everyone deserves culturally sensitive and trauma-informed mental health services. Dr. Martin's approach to counseling incorporates aspects of Psychodynamic Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Relational Cultural Therapy, and Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

Dr. Martin is a nationally registered and certified Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapist (TF-CBT) and a certified Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist, two evidence-based psychotherapy models for trauma treatment. Dr. Martin is trained in levels 1 and 2 of Gottman Method to Couples Therapy and employs this method when working with couples. Her overall approach to counseling includes exploring maladaptive behaviors and thought patterns that seem to restrict individuals from living a life free of worries, regrets, shame, guilt, and disappointments. Dr. Martin provides in-person and telemental health counseling; she is board-certified to provide telemental health.

Her professional experience includes extensive clinical and advocacy work with marginalized populations and individuals impacted by trauma. Her specializations include racial trauma recovery, complex trauma, cultural adaptation, multicultural issues, and women empowerment.

Dr. Martin is an assistant professor of Counseling at Webster University, where she enjoys developing counselor candidates to be culturally aware and trauma-informed. Additionally, she engages in various professional services to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and in the community. Dr. Martin started her private practice, Spring To Life Counseling, LLC, earlier in 2019. She has collaborated with various affiliates in the community, including Community Women Against Hardship, Casa de Salud, the Multicultural Counseling and Research Center, and the Ollie Heart Foundation, to help meet the mental health needs of under-resourced populations.

Dr. Martin received her doctorate degree in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Dr. Martin's research interests center around the effect of racism and other forms of social injustices on the mental health of impacted individuals. Dr. Martin is also interested in researching counselors' competencies around multicultural issues and trauma-informed practices. She has presented nationally and internationally on Black women's experiences in predominantly White spaces. In 2019, she received the Counseling Fellowship in Social Justice Award at UMSL.