Hello! I am dr. Dom. In my last blog post I shared my 59 years of invisible battle with complex trauma. Today I  want to explain why I  self-disclosed a personal experience as a therapist.

One of the primary reasons why I shared a personal experience was because I  believed  that I am a “wounded healer.” I remember the first time I heard the expression. It cut right through me! So, I spent time thinking about it.  The origin of the word therapy in Greek is ‘healing.’  As a therapist I stand in the tradition of wise spiritual or religious individuals who were considered healers. The ‘shamans’ of Africa or priests in religious traditions were considered healers in their societies by people who acknowledged that they were hurting or wounded.

I also recognize that I have been wounded and in Greek trauma is a ‘wound’ or a ‘penetration.’ I  believe that my wounding was mental, emotional, spiritual, and even physical [I grew up in an age of corporal punishment]. This understanding of trauma refers to personal hurts.

In adulthood and especially professionally, I was exposed to the woundedness of those I offered mental and spiritual support. I was affected or challenged by their woundedness . We refer to it as ‘vicarious trauma,’ which is like secondary trauma. For example, a mother whose child is suffering from cancer undergoes vicarious trauma. I consider vicarious trauma to be the negative impact of another person’s trauma on oneself and this does not necessarily need to be professional caregivers (Baird & Kracen, 2006). Imagine watching the news of children starving to death in Gaza and it affects you badly and causes you mental distress.

Perhaps, you, too, unknowingly are suffering from vicarious trauma and are not aware of how it affects you. Or you are aware of vicarious trauma and are burdened by it. The thing that you need to do is to ask yourself, “How, who and where can I get help from?”