I’m afraid I didn’t catch the name of the woman who talked to us about coaching and trauma – she was standing in for another speaker – so I cannot give credit where it’s due…but suffice it to say that this was a really interesting talk.
I learned….and was surprised that…
- …trauma is really common – 50-60% of people will experience some kind of trauma in their life
- …trauma can be caused by rape, physical abuse, wars etc…and also by bullying, marital breakdown, bereavement
- …in organizations, trauma can be caused by stressful situations, such as feeling responsible for the business and its people
- …the social, relational traumas can be far more traumatic than the physical ones, and the impact of them tends to last longer, because they occur over a longer period of time and become more ingrained
- …we do have the capacity to recover (only a small minority of people get ill from trauma), and even to grow with the right conditions to help us to learn from the trauma
- …that’s where coaching plays a part. As coaches, we should not shy away from trauma, thinking it is more of a counselling or therapeutic intervention that is needed. We can help people to learn and grow out of trauma
- …peer support is almost as good as professional support (and better than managerial support)
- …rituals can help us as supervisors and coaches (and anyone else in the helping professions) to separate ourselves from stressful, traumatic work. It’s important to create boundaries between our work and our home. Simple rituals like writing down what is on our mind about home stuff before we enter a room with a coachee or supervisee, and leaving that note outside the room; or writing down anything that is unresolved and leaving it in the room when we leave.
