Welcome to our April Newsletter.
It’s spring, and many of us feel exhausted, detached, and quite tired. It’s been a long two years now. So this month, I intend to understand why we disconnect and sometimes even dissociate from the overwhelming messages we access online and through our friends. Why do we choose to disengage from the news? Why do we prefer a state of inertia over a healthy connection with balanced, curated access to trusted sources and to…well, facts? And when does this connection feel simply too much to carry?
I think we chose inertia because connecting with reality can sometimes be too much to deal with. Images from the war, COVID stats and (here in the UK) saddening signs of the impact of Brexit are heartbreaking, so it can be easier to switch it all off. Pretending that the pandemic is over is a coping mechanism. I think there is another reason: we are not used to the uncomfortable emotional state the difficult news evokes in us - we do not know how to deal with those emerging feelings.
So this month, I am writing about vicarious trauma - the secondary trauma we experience when we witness suffering (for instance, when we hear a victim of racism or other forms of abuse share their experience - even if we decide to detach emotionally, studies show that we feel it too). Depending on the profession, sometimes it is called “cost of carrying”, “compassion fatigue”, or “workplace burnout”. Burnout, however, is usually stress and secondary trauma that builds up over time.
Vicarious trauma is something I sometimes experience in my practice when supporting my clients with consultancy, coaching and counselling. So I hope what I share here will be helpful for you too.
I wish you a sunny, soft and steady April!
