Workplace stress & Trauma
Many professionals encounter traumatic experiences in the course of their work. Sometimes it is obvious that the situation has been traumatic, sometimes it is not. Any situation that causes us to feel deeply disturbed or distressed can be experienced as traumatic. This includes situations in which we feel powerless and or/out of control. These situations are increasingly prevalent in healthcare settings.
These trauma-related situations are often encountered regularly at work, day to day, year in year out, and can become normalised. This makes it tricky to know when or why a particular experience is bothering us more. Sometimes, this happens to such an extent that we can't even trace the original experiences that caused us to feel this way.
Traumatic experiences that have not been fully processed can cause us to keep reliving them. For example, we might find ourselves being revisited by memories, images, flashbacks, nightmares, thoughts and / or body sensations that are directly related to the trauma. Other times our experiences may not seem to be related, but upon further exploration a theme that fits is revealed.
We might also find ourselves avoiding situations, people, activities, or places associated with the original trauma. We might feel more on edge, more easily startled, angry, without even knowing why these things are happening or bothering us. Work that was once straightforward can feel overwhelming. Our sleep may get disturbed.
How we help
Evidence-based psychological trauma approaches focus upon reprocessing the trauma, so that it becomes a memory firmly embedded in the past without the re-experiencing in the present.
These approaches can be surprisingly brief and are conducted in such a way that reprocessing the memories/trauma feels much more manageable than the current distress being experienced. There is a strong evidence base for the effectiveness of these interventions.
At Connected Potential, we have particular understanding of the healthcare context and have worked with hundreds of doctors, nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff to resolve their trauma symptoms. We have also worked with professionals in other high pressured work environments.
We are fully trained in the current National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended Trauma treatment: Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR).
We also offer Rewind Trauma Therapy which can often be completed in 3-4 sessions (assessment, intervention, follow up), depending upon the nature, severity and time scales of the trauma. Please see the International Association for Rewind Trauma Therapy website for more information about and the growing evidence base for the Rewind approach.
We meet with people remotely, or can meet face to face at our clinics across Hampshire and Dorset.
“I cannot recommend this service highly enough to anyone who needs it”