- Research suggests work-induced emotional trauma can damage people's self-esteem and their careers.
- While trauma can be harmful, experts say it can also bring about "post-traumatic growth."
Our past jobs can shape our lives, careers, and relationships, and how we think about our professional selves.
For some, the most painful experiences remain lodged in their psyches: the abusive boss who undermined their work; the racist colleague who sabotaged their shot at a promotion; the layoff that seemed to come out of the blue; and the poisonous office where coworkers belittled them or ignored them altogether.
Research suggests the weight of work-induced emotional trauma can damage people's self-esteem and hurt their careers. Reactions include difficulty concentrating, absenteeism, and anxiety. Some also experience feelings of fear and helplessness and symptoms like headaches and nausea.
"Trauma can change people's assumptions about themselves and the world," said Ryan Vogel, of Temple University's Fox School of Business, who's conducted research on the topic. "You assume you're a competent individual worthy of esteem. But if you're treated badly, you come to believe you're worthless."
Today, amid a seemingly never-ending global pandemic and increased rates of anxiety and depression worldwide, learning how to navigate and recover from emotional trauma is a critical skill. While trauma can have lasting negative effects, experts say it can also bring about "post-traumatic growth." That's when people develop a deeper understanding of who they are, their relationships, and the world in which they live.
Post-traumatic growth usually happens on its own, but employees can cultivate it, too. Experts say that seeking counseling, shoring up professional support networks, and doing resilience training can help people think more positively about past jobs and develop skills to cope with adversity throughout their careers.
What emotional trauma at work feels like
When Margo Lovett closes her eyes, she can almost hear her colleague's raspy voice spewing vitriol over the phone.
Lovett was a dispatcher at a logistics company, where she'd worked for 26 years, and was one of the few Black women at the office. She said she had good relationships but steered clear of one person who had a bad reputation. One Friday, the colleague called her out of the blue and screamed at her. "He said I was stupid and accused me of making his workload harder," she recalled.
Lovett sat shaking at her desk until another colleague, seeing her distress, ended the call for her. She told her manager about it and filed a report with human resources.
She returned to work the following week, but the call haunted her. Lovett said that she'd been assaulted as a teenager and that the incident brought up similar emotions. She cried in her car on the way to work and hid in the bathroom, fearful of seeing her colleague.
She said she later learned that her HR statement had been lost. "I felt betrayed," she said. "Had I done that to him, I would have been without a job."
Lovett quit four months later. She started therapy, which helped, and reinvented herself as a podcaster.
Her experience is not unusual. Mellissa Withers, an associate professor of clinical preventive medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine, said people who experience trauma in the workplace are often, though not always, members of marginalized groups, including women, underrepresented minorities, and those who identify as LGBTQ. Trauma can exacerbate the systemic biases these employees already face.
She added that people tend to discount or diminish what they're experiencing. "There's self-doubt: Am I taking this too personally or making too much of it?" she said, adding that the uncertainty can result in feelings of low self-worth.
"It becomes a vicious cycle: You don't feel safe at your job and worry you're going to lose it. That leads you to feel that you're not a good worker, which can lead to performance issues and depression — so you end up quitting a job you're actually good at," she said.
That nearly happened to Catalina Arango. After graduate school in Boston, Arango, who's from Colombia, joined a tech startup as the only Latin woman on the team. She said her white male colleagues excluded her by leaving her off Slack conversations and some even made fun of her accent. Once, at an off-site, she said, a colleague made an unwanted sexual advance.
Arango said she couldn't sleep and felt anxious. "It was horrible, but I was on a visa, so I needed the job," she said.
She's since left the company, but the experience stayed with her. "I think of it as a toxic ex," she said. "A lot of negative things happened, but at the same time I learned a lot, and it made me tougher."
How to navigate and recover from emotional trauma
There are productive, science-backed ways to help you sift through the emotional wreckage of past jobs. Experts say that reframing the trauma as an opportunity for growth is the first step. The goal is to acknowledge what you've overcome and arrive at a place of understanding, as Arango did.
"You want to be able to objectively say: Yes, it's possible for the world to be unsafe and for me to be mistreated. But I am stronger for having suffered," Vogel said. "I went through something hard, and I could get through it again."
Some people may need counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy to process their trauma. Others may find meditation or mindfulness helpful.
Studies indicate that developing strong social support is key. Withers recommended trying to build networks within your organization, your industry, and your profession; these groups can serve as trusted sounding boards. "You want to feel part of a community and that you have allies," she said. "You don't need to be best friends, but you need avenues of support."
Research suggests that resilience training is also beneficial for managing the effects of emotional trauma and handling stress.
"These situations can be catalysts for pain, but they're also an opportunity to cultivate resilience so that no matter what's thrown at you, you're Teflon," said Jody Michael, a psychotherapist, executive coach, and author.
Michael said she helps clients develop what she calls the "five muscles of mental fitness." That involves being able to self-assess, or notice patterns of behaviors and motives and understand how your emotions and actions affect those around you; developing accountability by taking responsibility for your thoughts, moods, and behaviors; learning how to hold multiple perspectives and see others' viewpoints; deciding to choose helpful beliefs by applying a measured and thoughtful lens to difficult circumstances; and calming your physiology by deep breathing, which several studies have found can reduce stress.
"Developing mental fitness will help you heal," she said. "You'll gain perspective and know someone else's behavior says more about them than it does about you."
This story originally published on August 10, 2022.