You Carry A Lot. Find A Safe Place To Set It Down.
Vicarious Trauma Therapy
Trauma-informed support for the impact of repeatedly witnessing or absorbing other people’s pain. Hayfield Healing offers vicarious trauma therapy in person near Pensacola and online throughout Florida, New York, and participating PsyPact states.
Vicarious trauma can develop when you are repeatedly exposed to other people’s trauma or suffering. It is especially common among therapists, healthcare professionals, first responders, military personnel, and others whose work requires ongoing emotional presence during crisis.
You are resilient and care deeply about the people you support, but you also need support yourself.
Vicarious trauma isn’t a sign that you are weak or unsuited to your work. It is a normal nervous-system response to carrying more emotional weight than one person was meant to hold alone.
At Hayfield Healing, Dr. Maria Niitepold offers trauma-focused support for adults whose work or personal relationships have repeatedly exposed them to traumatic stories and experiences. Dr. Niitepold helps you process what you have absorbed, reconnect with yourself, and continue doing meaningful work without sacrificing yourself.
Sessions are available in person in Gulf Breeze, near Pensacola, and virtually throughout Florida, New York, and participating 43+ PsyPact states.
What Is Vicarious Trauma?
Vicarious trauma is the emotional and physiological impact of repeated exposure to another person’s trauma. It develops gradually and can change how you see yourself, other people, and the world around you.
Those who continually hear painful stories, witness suffering, or respond to people in crisis can become more fearful, cynical, or emotionally numb. Even when the trauma did not happen directly to you, your nervous system can still respond as if it did.
Is Vicarious Trauma the Same as Burnout?
Vicarious trauma is not the same as burnout, but the two can overlap. Burnout is often connected to chronic workplace stress, long hours, lack of support, and unrealistic expectations. Often, first responders, military personnel, caregivers, and similar professions experience both. According to several studies, roughly 1 in 3 first responders develop PTSD, while 57% are likely to have burnout.
Therapy can help identify what is happening beneath the exhaustion so that treatment addresses more than stress management alone.
How Can Vicarious Trauma Show Up in Your Daily Life?
Vicarious trauma doesn’t always look dramatic. Since it appears slowly over time, small changes can eventually become harder to ignore. If any of the following resonates with you, Hayfield Healing is ready to help you.
Personality
Repeated exposure to trauma can change the way you think about safety, trust, and humanity.
You may begin expecting the worst, feeling suspicious of others, or believing that the world is more dangerous than you once thought. You may feel emotionally overwhelmed, unusually irritable, or feel guilty for having needs of your own when others are suffering.
These changes to your personality don’t mean you no longer care. Your nervous system is trying to protect you from emotional overload.
Work
You got into your work because it was meaningful to you; however, you may start dreading certain cases, conversations, or settings because they feel too emotionally activating. Others overwork to try to reduce their guilt or restore a sense of control.
Either way, vicarious trauma is affecting your daily work and sense of purpose in the world. With support, it is possible to reconnect with your values and your work in a healthier way.
Relationships
Vicarious trauma can make it difficult to stay emotionally present with others. If you’ve started to withdraw from or become overly protective of partners, family members, and friends, this is a strong sign you should seek out additional support. Therapy can help you reconnect with your loved ones again.
Physical Symptoms
Vicarious trauma often also shows up in the body. Muscle tension, frequent headaches, digestive problems, sleep problems, and chronic fatigue are all too common for many first responders, military personnel, caregivers, social workers, or therapists.
These responses are not imagined. Your body is carrying the cumulative impact of repeated exposure to distress. This can start manifesting physically.
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Therapy For Vicarious Trauma at Hayfield Healing
Healing from vicarious trauma is possible.
It does not require you to change your profession or pretend that every environment is safe. Instead, with the right support, you can process your experiences and find new ways to remain compassionate without absorbing others’ painful emotions.
Work With Dr. Maria Niitepold
Licensed Psychologist in Florida & New York
Dr. Maria Niitepold, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist specializing in trauma-focused and body-based therapy for adults. Her approach is direct, collaborative, and attentive to the emotional and physiological effects of repeated trauma exposure.
As a Marine Corps veteran and trauma therapist herself, she’s continually exposed to traumatic experiences and understands firsthand what caregivers, first responders, and social workers face daily.
Maria is EMDRIA-trained in EMDR and has advanced training in Brainspotting, the Comprehensive Resource Model, CBT-I, and clinical hypnosis. These approaches can help address distressing memories, intrusive images, emotional overload, hypervigilance, shutdown, and other nervous-system responses.
Sessions are available in person in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and online for clients across Florida, New York, and PsyPact-participating states.
Frequently Asked Questions
About Vicarious Trauma Therapy
Can I Really Get PTSD From My Job?
Yes, it’s possible. Vicarious trauma does not always develop into PTSD; however, PTSD can develop from direct trauma experienced during work or repeated professional exposure to the distressing details of other people’s traumatic experiences.
Therapists, first responders, military personnel, healthcare professionals, and other caregivers may be particularly vulnerable because their work regularly brings them close to trauma, injury, loss, or crisis.
What are the signs of vicarious trauma?
Common signs include emotional numbness, irritability, hypervigilance, intrusive thoughts, sleep problems, compassion fatigue, withdrawal, cynicism, guilt, physical tension, and difficulty separating work from personal life.
Can I have vicarious trauma even if I was not present when the event happened?
Yes. You can be affected by repeatedly hearing about traumatic events, reviewing disturbing details, supporting survivors, or caring for the aftermath of an event. You do not have to witness the original event firsthand for the exposure to affect you.
Does vicarious trauma mean I should change careers?
No. Experiencing vicarious trauma does not mean you are incapable of doing your job. It means your nervous system has been exposed to more distress than it can process.
You don’t have to automatically leave work, stop caregiving, or change careers to heal from vicarious trauma. In fact, getting support may help you reconnect with your work while developing healthier boundaries around what you carry.
Do I have to discuss confidential details about clients, patients, or cases?
No. Dr. Niitepold will work within the ethical, professional, and personal boundaries around your role. During your therapy sessions, you’ll focus on your emotions, body responses, beliefs, and experiences. You don’t have to disclose identifying information or the details of the event to heal.
How can EMDR and Brainspotting help with vicarious trauma?
EMDR may help reprocess particular experiences that remain emotionally charged. Brainspotting can help address body-based reactions that are difficult to put into words. Both approaches are intended to reduce the intensity of unresolved trauma responses.
You Carry A Lot. Now You Have A Safe Place To Set It Down.
You may be the person others trust during the most painful moments of their lives. But being capable does not mean you should have to carry others’ difficult emotions indefinitely. If you are looking for vicarious trauma therapy in Gulf Breeze, Pensacola, or elsewhere in Florida or New York, Hayfield Healing can help. You have spent enough time holding it together for everyone else. Let this be a place where you can set it down and rest.