Amy Nicholas

Amy Nicholas is a social worker practising on Larrakia country in Darwin, NT.

While many view vicarious trauma as an inevitable consequence of working with trauma survivors, Amy is passionate about shifting the gaze toward innovative risk management and prevention.

Her experience working in frontline services in Central Australia has fostered a curiosity about what strategies are needed to mitigate the impact of trauma exposure on workers and services. Observing the ripple effect of high staff turnover across many sectors in her community has motivated Amy’s commitment to influencing change in how vicarious trauma is managed as a workplace hazard in the NT. She has been awarded a 2023 Churchill Fellowship to explore what can be learned from approaches to vicarious trauma prevention developed across frontline services in the United States.

As a social worker, Amy has significant experience working with trauma survivors; particularly First Nations youth and survivors of domestic & sexual violence. She recognizes the privilege of this work and is motivated and moved by witnessing the courage of trauma survivors, and their acts of resilience and resistance.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Social Work & Diploma of Counselling from Charles Darwin University and has undertaken further training in Narrative Therapy & Community Work. She has developed an online resource, vicarioustraumaprevention.com.au, to guide Australian organizations wishing to engage in vicarious trauma prevention.