The Weight We Carry: Building Staff Resilience Through Trauma-Informed Practice

Last Friday, I had the privilege of presenting “The Weight We Carry: Building Staff Resilience Through Trauma-Informed Practice” at the Willow Domestic Violence Center of Greater Rochester Summit, a space filled with some of the most compassionate and resilient professionals I know.

Those who work in domestic violence services carry more than caseloads and calendars; they carry stories, grief, hope, and the profound weight of emotional labor and moral distress.

Emotional labor is the effort it takes to manage your own emotions while supporting others, staying calm, kind, and professional, even when your heart is breaking. Moral distress occurs when you know what someone needs, but systems, policies, or limited resources make it impossible to provide it.

These invisible burdens can quietly wear down even the most dedicated among us. That’s why at Silver Linings International, we believe that caring for staff is just as important as caring for clients.

Trauma-informed leadership isn’t only about understanding others’ trauma; it’s about creating workplace cultures that recognize and respond to the impact of chronic stress and secondary trauma on staff. In our Trauma-Informed Supervision courses, we help organizations move beyond “self-care as a buzzword” toward sustainable systems of support.

Because self-care isn’t just about spa days or vacations (though those are lovely when possible). It’s about the small, essential acts that keep us grounded: getting up, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, eating something nourishing. These are not trivial; they are acts of resilience.

One participant at the Summit shared:

“Great presentation. I usually grumble when self-care comes up because I don’t have capacity to do one more thing, especially for myself, but this makes it easy to just pick from a menu and has a good perspective that is helping me feel more hopeful about incorporating self-care. Thank you!!”

That comment reflects something powerful: when we give people permission to redefine self-care, we make resilience feel possible.

If your organization could benefit from this kind of conversation, one that blends compassion, practicality, and evidence-based strategies, I’d love to bring this talk to your team.

Learn more about Silver Linings International’s training and courses at silverliningsinternational.org, or contact us directly to explore bringing a trauma-informed resilience workshop to your organization.

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