This is the first post in our series about trauma-informed self care. Listen to the audio version of this episode here or find The Greater Us wherever you listen to your podcasts!
In today’s world, many leaders and professionals are navigating complex, emotionally charged work environments. As someone who has spent over 16 years working with survivors of power-based violence and researching trauma psychiatry, I’ve developed strategies to maintain my well-being, and they’ve become even more relevant as we face unprecedented societal challenges.
In this post, I’ll introduce some trauma-informed self-care frameworks that I’ve found invaluable for sustaining difficult, emotionally taxing work. Whether you're a leader, advocate, or anyone engaging in high-stress environments, these strategies may help you show up fully without burning out, and we'll go into detail in future posts.
The Limits of Traditional Self-Care
For many, self-care is often associated with activities like taking walks or having bubble baths. While these can certainly be helpful after a tough day, they often fall short when dealing with the cumulative impact of intense work, especially when it involves vicarious trauma—absorbing difficult stories, information, or experiences through your work.
In my advocacy and research work, I found that this type of self-care didn’t address the deep toll of constantly engaging with difficult material. It wasn’t enough to counter the emotional and physical impacts that lingered after a particularly intense case or a challenging day in the archives. For me, self-care needed to be more intentional and holistic.
Understanding Vicarious Trauma
When we regularly take in information about how unsafe the world can be—whether through our work, news, or the stories we hear—it can change how we view ourselves and the world. This is what clinicians refer to as secondary or vicarious trauma. It’s a normal response to being empathetic and caring, but it can also be exhausting. As I discovered through my research on trauma psychiatry, the only individuals who seemed unaffected by prolonged exposure to traumatic content were those categorized as lacking empathy.
In other words, experiencing some degree of trauma impact is part of being human. The key is learning how to manage and mitigate that impact before it starts to toxify our minds and bodies.
Monitoring Your Exposure to Difficult Work
I began to think about my exposure to difficult material like ingesting a low-dose poison or handling radioactive material. Just as professionals in hazardous environments wear badges to measure exposure, I had to learn how to monitor my emotional and physical responses to my work.
Through trial and error, I developed a keen awareness of the signals my body sent me when I had taken in too much. Sometimes it felt like a dark rumble in my chest, or I’d notice my outlook becoming increasingly cynical and dim. These were my indicators that I needed to step back and care for myself before the impact became overwhelming.
What’s Your Signal?
As you navigate your own work, whether in leadership, advocacy, or any other high-stakes field, I encourage you to identify your own signals. How does your body or mind tell you when you’ve crossed the line into being “not okay”? What early signs can you notice before reaching a breaking point?
Being aware of these signals is the first step to creating a sustainable approach to your work. In the next posts, I’ll dive into specific self-care strategies across four key domains. These practices have helped me manage the challenges of my work and, I hope, will offer insights for you as well.
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