Lessons from the Playroom 142. The Impact of Trauma Exposure on Therapists
This next episode is so unbelievably important (maybe even critical) for you as a therapist to hear … Join Lisa for a conversation about this not so widely discussed topic - the impact of trauma exposure on therapists (or really for anyone in a helping role).
As a therapist (or helper of any kind), we've chosen a profession that puts us directly on the frontline. We are required to be right there in the midst of trauma exposure, day-in and day-out, session after session. We’re asked to listen, witness, play through the trauma, and experience the trauma alongside our clients. The old adage that the therapist stays an objective observer when facilitating someone else is, well, impossible.
Ultimately, we can’t avoid being impacted by exposure to another’s trauma/crisis/challenge and, as a result, we’re susceptible to compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, or secondary traumatization.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How we always experience a secondary impact when working with clients who have/are experiencing trauma, crisis or challenge;
- What happens when we are impacted by the same trauma, crisis or challenge that our clients are experiencing;
- What happens when our own unresolved trauma comes into the playroom (guaranteed it happens more frequently than we give ourselves permission to be aware of); and
- How to reconnect back to ourselves both outside the playroom and during those moments of activation in the therapy session.
Listen and take a moment to connect/reconnect with yourself. Find some time to reflect on this extraordinary profession that you’re part of and the sacrifices you’re making; hear ways to help mitigate the impact (hint: it starts with learning how to be with ourselves through the impact); and then start to create a lifestyle that supports this career we’ve chosen.
You are extraordinary! Much love on the journey 💕
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