The Vicarious Trauma and Resilience Podcast

Vicarious trauma isn't burnout, and the distinction matters for leaders supporting trauma-exposed teams.In this episode, we explore how vicarious trauma develops through sustained empathic engagement with trauma, how it differs from burnout, and why organizational culture and support matter more than simply focusing on individual self-care or caseloads.We also look at what research suggests about evidence-based trauma treatment, vicarious resilience, compassion satisfaction, and staff retention, before getting practical about how organizations can help staff identify, install, and enhance vicarious resilience within the structures they already have.Resources Mentioned in This EpisodeThe Trauma Therapist Trauma Response YouTube Video - https://youtu.be/myTvmlLgd1MThe Free Vicarious Trauma Tracker - https://www.braveproviders.com/vicarious-trauma-trackerThe BRAVE Method - https://www.braveproviders.com/speakingThe BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective - https://www.braveproviders.com/brave

Staying present with a client’s trauma means learning to stay present with yourself, too. But what happens when a client’s story activates something in your own body, and how do you remain grounded without shutting down what you’re feeling?Trauma psychologist Dr. Jenny Hughes sits down with Lynn Fraser, founder of the Stillpoint Method of Healing Trauma, to explore how nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and embodied practices shape the therapeutic relationship. Together, they discuss recognizing signs of activation, building the capacity to stay with difficult emotions, and creating the conditions for safety and connection. Because being a regulated therapist isn’t about being perfect. It’s about learning how to return to the present.Resources & ConnectionsJoin the BRAVE Trauma Therapists Collective: https://www.braveproviders.com/braveLearn more about BRAVE: https://www.braveproviders.comConnect with Lynn Fraser: https://LynnFraserStillpoint.com

When therapist spaces are supposed to feel safe, a dismissive comment can land harder than we expect.So, what happens when the people we expect to understand us instead leave us feeling judged, exposed, or unsafe?In this episode, Dr. Jenny Hughes reflects on a rupture in a local therapist community, the shame and shutdown it triggered, and the effort it took to respond from regulation rather than reaction. She also considers the difference between spaces that critique and spaces that genuinely hold us, and why therapists deserve that same care from one another that we offer our clients.Resources mentioned in this episodeThe BRAVE Traum⁠⁠⁠a Therapist Collective: https://www.braveproviders.com/braveBRAVE YouTube Channel: ⁠Here⁠

When a good trauma therapist leaves, the resignation is rarely the beginning of the story. It is often the visible end of months or years of professional isolation, emotional invalidation, administrative overload, limited clinical growth, moral injury, and systems that were never designed to protect the people doing the work.This episode looks beyond burnout to the conditions that gradually make staying unsustainable, and asks a more useful question: What would change if we noticed the slow creep before a therapist reaches the last chapter? For trauma therapists and leaders alike, this is a conversation about moving beyond individual self-care and toward the systems, relationships, and infrastructure that make sustainable trauma work possible.Resources mentioned in this episodeFree Vicarious Trauma Tracker: https://www.braveproviders.com/vicarious-trauma-trackerOrganizational training & speaking: https://www.braveproviders.com/speakingThe BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective: https://www.braveproviders.com/

The word “resilience” doesn't always feel like a compliment.For many trauma therapists and helping professionals, resilience has been used to praise people for surviving what never should have happened in the first place or to turn systemic problems into individual homework.So what happens when we separate resilience from vicarious resilience?In this episode, Dr. Jenny Hughes explores why the word resilience can feel so loaded, where vicarious resilience actually comes from, and what makes it fundamentally different.Vicarious resilience isn't about how strong you are, how much trauma you can withstand, or how well you “bounce back.” It's about what happens through the therapeutic relationship when you witness someone heal.This video shares what vicarious resilience can actually feel like in your body, how to recognize those moments when they happen, and why simply noticing them is the beginning of making them part of your practice.You'll also learn about three steps for working with vicarious resilience: Identify it. Install it. Enhance it.And most importantly, you'll hear why trauma therapists were never meant to experience this work alone, and how sharing moments of healing can allow vicarious resilience to move from one person to another.Resources1. Free Vicarious Resilience TrackerUse the free tracker to start noticing and understanding your own experiences of vicarious resilience: https://www.braveproviders.com/vicarious-resilience-tracker2. Join the BRAVE Trauma Therapist CollectiveA space for trauma therapists to bring both the weight of the work and the moments of healing: https://www.braveproviders.com/brave3. Bring The BRAVE Method to Your OrganizationFor organizations and leaders who want to help their trauma-exposed teams understand and build vicarious resilience together: https://www.braveproviders.com/speaking