When Healthcare Hurts: Strategies for Coping with Medical Trauma
Medical care is supposed to help us feel better. But for some people, the healthcare system itself can become a source of fear, frustration, loss of control, or trauma.
Medical trauma can develop after a frightening procedure, a serious diagnosis, a prolonged hospitalization, repeated medical interventions, or experiences of feeling dismissed or unheard. It can also accumulate over time. Especially for people living with complex, rare, chronic, or poorly understood illnesses, years of appointments, tests, uncertainty, and interactions with multiple providers can take an emotional and physical toll.
It is important to remember that the same medical experience will not affect everyone in the same way. An event may be stressful for one person and traumatic for another. Trauma is about the person's experience—not simply what happened or what someone intended.
Holding Sacred Space: What to Do When Someone Comes Out to You
You might already be aware that LGBTQIA+ Pride is celebrated in June, with festivals, parades, memorials, and marches held all over the world throughout the month. You might be wondering how you can best support LGBTQIA+ people, not just in June but all the time? While there are many ways to be a supporter and an ally, one of the most important is to be prepared to respond compassionately to someone who comes out to you. Here are a few keys to remember when you enter this sacred conversation.
IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! And other stuff sick people wish they could say.
When a person in your life is going through a hard time such as an illness, divorce, or bereavement and your question is “how can I not say the wrong thing to them?” Dr. Susan Silk’s Ring Theory provides a simple answer: comfort in, dump out.
Two Simple Steps for Better Communication
The need to be heard and understood is one most of us share. Yet we may often feel misunderstood by our partners, parents, children, friends, or colleagues. Moreover, it’s likely that some of those important people in our lives don’t always feel heard and understood by us. When we misunderstand one another, we often end up feeling frustrated and hurt.