Self-care for Those Who Work With Trauma

As therapists and helping professionals who work with victims and survivors of trauma, we are exposed to the palpable levels of suffering, struggle, shame, and despair that permeate our clients' lives. We sit and listen to their pain, their grief, and their loss. Part of our work is to hold hope and compassion for them, especially when they often cannot hold it for themselves. This work can be exhilarating and immensely satisfying, but it can also come with a cost.

Treating individuals who have lived through traumatic events and their consequences imposes a special burden on-as well as provides an opportunity for-the therapist. In this essay, I'll examine the impacts of working with trauma and will share methods for reducing the personal cost of doing this important work. Furthermore, these techniques for minimizing the stress of our work also create a chance for us to deepen our capacity to be compassionately present without being emotionally hijacked.

In addition to treating trauma-based disorders for 33 years, I have also trained and supervised clinicians and first responders in working with trauma and reducing the inevitable toll of that work. I find my work with survivors of trauma to be profoundly rewarding. It can also be the most demanding task undertaken by therapists and clients