The #1 thing trauma therapists say to me when I encourage them to remove their professional armor is, “So then how am I supposed to protect myself?!”

My response? “Maybe you don’t need to be protected!”

I know what you're thinking: "I'm a trauma therapist, I do serious work and have to be a blank slate!" What if I told you that armoring up with all your training and education is setting you up for vicarious trauma?

You know what this is like - bracing yourself for sessions, starting a minute (or few) late, knowing there are sessions you dread or finding yourself dreading all of them.

If you’re like many trauma therapists, you have likely never heard this term. You’re probably familiar with post-traumatic growth or maybe even compassion satisfaction, which are very similar to VR but not quite the same…

As a therapist, I (and we!) are trained to keep things close to the chest. However, in my work with fellow trauma therapists, I know that true healing happens when we are open and intentional in sharing about ourselves and our shared experiences of pain and trauma.

We have all had a moment as a trauma therapist when we wondered whether we could still do trauma work. Asked ourselves if this work has ruined us. So then, how do we start to answer this question?

The weight of the world is heavy, plain and simple. As a fellow trauma therapist, I know you feel it as a professional and as a human. The problem is that if we don't name VT and just stick our heads in the sand, in only makes things worse…

Vicarious trauma, or VT, is a natural experience for any trauma therapist, helper, or healer. When we work to help others overcome trauma and stress, our natural empathic nature means we are a sponge that’s ready to soak up our daily trauma exposures…