Laurie’s training to be resilient started early with steady doses of risk-taking. On a family vacation, their small plane her Dad was piloting needed to make a fuel stop. Her Dad asked then 12-year-old Laurie to use her Spanish skills to speak with two heavily armed Mexican airport guards. What did that teach Laurie about planning adventures, trust, and taking her Spanish studies seriously? Did that experience create a “little t” trauma? Or did it depend on the outcome? DOWNLOAD

Most of us know the “big T’s.” “Those events anyone would find disturbing. A defeat or wound to the heart,” says Laurie. A big singular event like the death of a loved one, divorce, being cheated on, accidental death, a business failure, military combat and war, et al. Or collective experiences such as natural disasters connected with climate change where many people are affected, like the winter freeze in Texas or wildfires in California. The coronavirus pandemic is a collective experience. Within the pandemic, you have probably noticed a range of how individually people are addressing or denying and dealing with the trauma-induced pandemic or using conspiracy theories as a coping mechanism.

The “little t” in trauma are events that can accumulate over time. You might not even realize the effects or toll the “little t” has taken on you and the impact on close relationships until much later. You might even trivialize those experiences of high stress or how you felt not being included in a peer group, losing a friend or a shift in friendship, job loss, financial disruption, change in a relationship, and others. The absence of having somebody who has empathy toward you in life can be a “little t” or a “big T” depending on a wide variety of factors we outline. Are you noticing the complexity here? This is why we need to keep bending our pointed fingers inward.

Although we talk about trauma, Laurie has a ton of experience working with entrepreneurial start-ups bringing international marketing expertise and organizational management skills that round out her work life. After suffering a “big T” herself, Laurie’s life changed. Her brother succumbed to his battle with addiction in 2017, dying at age 42. An important question that led to her current work as a recovery coach and educator was, how did we get here?

We complete our inviting conversation with the results of a workshop Laurie led with two colleagues. They uncovered the struggles, barriers, and mental health topics attendees would like addressed in the workplace. An excellent lead-up to our second conversation to be aired next week. Addressing trauma in the workplace.