How to Hold Space for Trauma Without Feeling Like You're Playing Therapist

I want to start with something that I think is going to shift how you see every single person who walks through your door.

The word trauma has two dictionary definitions.

The first one you probably know, a deeply distressing or disturbing experience, but the second one, physical injury.

Think about that for a second.

By that definition, almost every person who comes to see you has experienced trauma.

And in a lot of cases, that's exactly why they're there.

Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, Jamie, my patients aren't trauma patients.

They've got a sore neck, they got a tight lower back or, you know, they just pulled something at the gym.

Maybe.

But let me ask you this.

What about the person who's been in persistent pain for three years, who has seen doctor after doctor, and every single appointment they leave feeling like nobody actually listened to them? The one who walks into your treatment room already bracing themselves to be dismissed again.

Now, to go with that, I want to share something that recently just stopped me in my tracks.

An old friend of mine, somebody that I went to school with right from elementary school through high school, reached out to me after one of my posts.

You see, she was hit by a truck when we were teenagers, and what she shared has stuck with me ever since she reached out.

She wrote to me and said, "I fear them listening but not hearing.

Being heard and understood is important during a visit.

Being vulnera- being vulnerable needs to have safety.

For me, I feel safe when I'm heard, not just listened to.

I have not felt heard by almost every doctor I've been to.

What happened to me? I was a pedestrian run over by a truck.

No more questions asked.

Trauma.

Told to see mental health.

Seen for three years, yet the pain isn't changing.

My anxiety isn't from my injury.