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On this episode
For people in caring professions, trauma can be something we experience on a regular basis. an event doesn’t have to be earth-shattering to be traumatic, and if we let those “little T” traumas build up over time without addressing them, we can find ourselves in a constant sate of fight, flight, or freeze.
When stress and trauma accumulate over time, we can minimise what triggers us and downplay our experience. Each time we do, we deplete our battery, pushing it from the green zone of calm and energy, to the amber zone of fight-or-flight, and if we’re not careful, into the red zone where accessing empathy and compassion – and even good decision-making – is much harder. This is often when burnout appears to come “out of nowhere”.
But there are ways we can disrupt the burnout pattern, and tap into our nervous system to help us in those moments when we’re triggered.
Show links
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, by Anne Helen Petersen
Burnout: Solve Your Stress Cycle, by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
More episodes of You Are Not a Frog:
Download the episode’s workbook and CPD form. You can use them for reflection and to submit for your appraisal.
About the guests
Claire is a clinical psychologist specialising in trauma, anxiety and burnout. Alongside her online therapy practice she creates engaging short-form videos on improving your mental health. She regularly runs online workshops for overcoming stress, procrastination and unhealthy boundaries.
Follow Dr Claire Plumbly
Reasons to listen
- To understand the impact of “little T” traumas on our nervous system and how they can accumulate over time
- To learn about the importance of recognising and prioritising self-care
- To hear practical tips on how to recharge and avoid burnout
Episode highlights
Big T and little T traumas
Impact on the nervous system
Normalising stress and overworking
Giving ourselves space
How housekeeping can help with our stress response
Saying no to avoid burnout
Functional levels of IQ
Where is your battery level?
Burnout and trauma
Defining boundaries
Emails
Minimising trauma
Self-help strategies
The red zone
Finding safety
Claire’s top tips
Episode transcript
[00:00:00] Rachel: Throughout our lives, particularly when working on the frontline with people who are hurting. we encounter little traumas that accumulate over time. Whether it’s feeling humiliated or belittled by a bully or going through a difficult breakup, these little T traumas can impact our mental and emotional wellbeing in ways we can’t always spot. And that build-up trauma can even impact our empathy and compassion, as they push us from calm into a fight or flight response. [00:00:29] Rachel: My guest this week is Dr. Claire Plumbly, a clinical psychologist who specializes in trauma. She calls that response…
