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My motivation to take this course arises from my growing practice as a lawyer practicing primarily in family law. I’ve been the middleman in many family law files, and have observed the extent to which emotions can drive out any sense of reason. Through this course, I aim to develop better strategies and tools to better facilitate communications between parties, and to better understand where some of these individuals are coming from.
Prior to starting this course, I would rate my understanding of trauma informed practice to be a 5.
After reading the course manual section on trauma, I am more understanding of the contagious nature of stress, and the significant implications this stress could have in the long term.
Two ideas that have stood out to me:
(1) The levels of trauma – burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatization, and vicarious traumatization. My understanding of this concept has changed in such that these words have always seemed to be discussed as part of one all-encompassing “syndrome” with different names.
(2) The importance of using specific tools in dealing with trauma-informed practice – such as person-first language and reframing.The difficult aspect of high conflict environments for me is finding balance with how I can consciously detach myself emotionally to a client’s situation, while finding space to really empathize with their thoughts and feelings. I find that the more I practice in this area, the more I am emotionally detached to many areas of my personal life.
With respect to self care, I practice yoga regularly and will continue to do so. I will also ensure that I have time away from the office and away from the heavy content of this course to clear the mind and to focus on other hobbies.
