Shared Trauma

Abstract

Shared trauma occurs in the extraordinary, yet unavoidable, multifaceted situation in which a therapist is going through a traumatic experience that is the same as that of his or her client. This article explores the phenomenon of shared trauma from the dual perspectives of the personal and the professional and considers implications for best practice. There are natural disasters worldwide in which people in the helping professions share the same trauma as the people they are helping, although little is written about this phenomenon. The earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, were sustained and ongoing for several years. The author was deeply impacted by those, as were her colleagues. The author describes her own experience and presents excerpts of interviews with other therapists to illustrate the challenges and transformative changes that clinicians may undergo as a result of their exposure to shared trauma.