We are entering a new era of trauma awareness. We are just starting to be able to make visible the central role that trauma plays in human development, physical health, and in relationships of all types. We are recognizing that … Continue reading The Ethics of Not Treating Trauma
“Have you ever been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused?” It’s a standard intake question asked tens of thousands of times a day as part of mental health assessments all across the country. At the beginning of my career I asked … Continue reading Dancing Around the Unspeakable at Intake
It’s completely normal for life to break your heart. It will happen. We all got here when a bottom fell out and everything that we knew fell out with us into some vast space that we never anticipated inhabiting. And, … Continue reading Disclosure in Trauma Work
I remember it well, catching up with former classmates at continuing education events about a year after graduation. Hugs and smiles. We’re both doing well. We’re both learning a lot. We’re seeing pretty much all trauma all day long. Then, … Continue reading When Big Hope Looks Like Arrogance
[Part of a series on surviving your mental health internship.] I got the call that my sister Amy was dead at about 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon, about four months into my internship. I was on campus and at my … Continue reading Tragedy Happens in Your Own Life Too
Many of your clients with extensive trauma with have a history of panic attacks. Those with extensive trauma that do not have panic attacks may have frequent rage episodes instead. Some have both. In community mental health, you are unlikely … Continue reading Working with Clients Prone to Panic Attacks
Your clients with trauma have likely been told throughout their lives that their traumatic experiences did not happen, that their emotional responses are dramatic and unfounded, that the problem is how they are thinking about what happened to them, and … Continue reading Baker’s Dozen of Things Not to Do with Traumatized Clients
Go With That 