What affects employees, affects their employers
No one is talking about this and I don’t know why. It’s as clear as the nose on my face; trauma impacts and affects people’s ability to develop a sustainable work life. With more than 70% of all Americans experiencing trauma at some point in their lives, it is time for us to take a closer look at this phenomenon.
Let’s start with the job search process; something every American is required to do, and something that is particularly problematic for those with trauma exposure. Throughout your life people constantly ask: “what do you want to do?” Thinking about what you want to be when you grow up is a luxury. For those experiencing trauma the answer is: “Alive,” but of course you can’t say that. Then there is the proverbial resume everyone tells us to write.
Writing a resume calls on someone to think about their past; something most survivors avoid at all costs. Skills? Achievements? What? Thinking about these things is a privilege, yet we as a society, tend to think they are a given and punish those who don’t know the answers. Again, when you are trying to survive, doing so is your main skill and achievement.
Interviewing; ugh! Survivors dread interviewing. What happens when you have hidden from the facts of your trauma to survive it? What happens when an interviewer says, “So tell me about yourself?” I’ll tell you what happens, I’ve seen it a hundred times; people forget what they wanted to say sometimes even where they are. It’s a horrible, scary feeling.
Nowadays to get a job everyone MUST have a LinkedIn Profile. “Exposure. I’ll be caught. I’m not any of these things I say I am. I can’t do it. I cannot take the risk of being found out.” These are the kind of thoughts trauma survivors have when considering putting together a LinkediN Profile. Another road block; the list seems endless.
Do you relate to any of what I describe? If you do tell me your story. Together we can make sense of your struggles. You are not crazy and you are certainly not alone.
Trauma-Focused Career Therapy 