What is Trauma?
We want to revitalize our outreach efforts in 2024 and what better way than to revisit some key concepts that are worth understanding. This week we are looking at trauma.
These days you might have heard the phrase “Trauma Informed.” But what does that mean and what does trauma cover? The answer is going to be different for everyone because what is traumatic for one person might not be so for another. Trauma also isn’t limited to experiencing war or severe abuse. Emotional absences can be traumatic, even if your physical needs and well-being are taken care of. Additionally, long-term exposure to hostile work environments can lead to long-term traumatic responses. Sometimes the workplace is hostile due to an overbearing boss, other times it is on-going sexual harassment. Trauma can be anything that leads to a deleterious behavioral response. And trauma informed care understands that.
Talking to attorneys about mental health, they might say they don’t have any mental health challenges before talking about how their boss keeps them in the office till midnight and they haven’t used a day of PTO for three years because they need to meet their billable hour goals if they are to make partner. And maybe that lifestyle works for them, but for others it is a trauma that might lead to anxiety, sleepless nights, substance abuse, etc. Trauma informed care meets those legal professionals where they are.
Trauma informed care also avoids blame or judgment. Too often we can be traumatized by those dealing with their own mental health issues. And while these people might be the cause of our trauma and our mental health challenges, blaming them isn’t helpful in the recovery process. Indeed it might even be harmful.
Trauma informed care is something that we strive for here at The LegalMind Society. Our founder understands the importance of this because he understands from his own journey how insidiously traumas can hide given society’s stigmas. Whether your peer support is offered by him, or by another volunteer, we can assure that judgment is something we check at the door with our trauma informed care. We understand what trauma is and how important trauma informed care is. And if you have things in your life you are struggling with, know that you can talk to us confidentially and without judgment. Because we’ve been there and we know that together we can heal from our past traumas.