The New Trauma Worker. ebook.

Transcription

1 The New Trauma Worker. ebook. A 4-Step Survival Guide & Launching Pad for New Trauma Workers Guy Macpherson, PhD 1

2 It s not what you know, but who you are. Peter Bernstein, PhD (episode 207, The Trauma Therapist Podcast) Introduction What does it take to sit with someone who s been impacted by trauma? How do you develop the compassion, calm and composure to maintain your presence when someone is sharing the horrors they ve experienced? How do you go about beginning this training? What skills, interventions, qualities or characteristics as a therapist should you focus on? What books should you read? What modalities are best equipped to address trauma? Where do you start? These questions are just a few of the many I frequently receive from individuals eager to begin their traumainformed journey. They re questions I struggled with myself earlier on in my training as a psychologist. And quite frankly, there are days when I still find myself struggling. I certainly don t have all the answers. However, as host of The Trauma Therapist Podcast, I ve had the opportunity to speak with over 250 of the thought leaders and game-changers in the fields of trauma, addiction, mindfulness and yoga who, fortunately, do have the answers. 2

3 This guide is a distillation of the empowering and inspiring suggestions, thoughts, wisdom and advice from my guests on this subject of becoming and being a trauma therapist. This is a guide for those starting out on their journey. It is a roadmap of sorts. This is not a definitive statement on the topic by any stretch of the imagination, but simply one path among many. My hope is that this guide will serve to encourage and inspire mental health workers of all stripes to take their first steps along their trauma-informed journey. 3

4 step one: offer hope. 4

5 My Journey. Or: No. No. And Definitely No. Three years ago, while in the midst of a crazy two-hour commute from my doctoral internship to home, I was sitting in the car mentally running down the list of everything I had done wrong with my clients that day. Why didn t I do this? Why did I say that? How could I have said that? I fantasized about have a seasoned trauma therapist sitting beside me in the passenger seat, mentoring me as the traffic crept along. To pass the time during those rides I would listen to podcasts. I d listen to the ones about entrepreneurs doing incredible things--creating businesses around a cause, striving to make a difference, and along the way creating their dream jobs and the lives they imagined. At that time I certainly didn t think of myself as an entrepreneur. But it was during one of those drives, after months of listening, that I thought to myself, I m going to do this. I m going to start my own podcast and interview seasoned trauma therapists to help support and encourage less-experienced clinicians like myself. Had I ever previously gotten a podcast off the ground? No. Did I even know what I would need to get started? No. Had I ever interviewed a season trauma therapist before? Definitely no. Now, as I sit here writing this, I ve published some 200+ episodes of The Trauma Therapist Podcast, it s been downloaded in over 160 countries around the world, and I interview not just seasoned trauma therapists, but individuals from a variety of backgrounds and influences who work to treat people who ve been impacted by trauma. 5

6 I love interviewing and talking to my incredible guests. I usually finish the interviews with goosebumps from listening to their stories, their honesty, and their incredible passion for the work they do. (Check out Peter Bernstein s episode, or Nancy Morgan s, to choose just two.) 6

7 The essence of working with another person is to be present as a living being. And that is lucky, because if we had to be smart, or good, or mature, or wise, then we would probably be in trouble. But, what matters is not that. What matters is to be a human being with another human being, to recognize the other person as another being in there. Gene Gendlin 7

8 above all else, we are hope-givers. 8

9 Be a person. Show up. 9