As trauma therapists, we know that vicarious trauma is a normal part of the job; You can’t walk through water and expect not to get wet. But when you add the layer of racial trauma—whether personally experienced or witnessed—the weight on our shoulders can feel even heavier.

Whether you are a trauma therapist or not, you may have heard the terms Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, and/or Secondary Traumatic Stress used in seemingly the same ways. That makes it seem like they are interchangeable but, news flash! They’re not.

The Johari Window is about self-awareness but this week you’ll see how my brain has worked to adapt this age-old technique to help you Name Vicarious Trauma and share these experiences with the people who mean the most to you.

It’s no surprise that I think all trauma therapists should name our vicarious trauma on the regular. And, if you're anything like me, you're very happy to ignore VT and burnout signs!

To get myself out, or even to prevent spiraling, I realized that I needed a better reason to check in with my VT on the regular.

We have all had a moment as a trauma therapist when we wondered whether we could still do trauma work. Asked ourselves if this work has ruined us. So then, how do we start to answer this question?

The weight of the world is heavy, plain and simple. As a fellow trauma therapist, I know you feel it as a professional and as a human. The problem is that if we don't name VT and just stick our heads in the sand, in only makes things worse…

Vicarious trauma, or VT, is a natural experience for any trauma therapist, helper, or healer. When we work to help others overcome trauma and stress, our natural empathic nature means we are a sponge that’s ready to soak up our daily trauma exposures…