a wave of vicarious trauma
Although we live in a society where many are alone,
and indeed many feel left out
some feel alone in the crowd
We still live in communities.
In fact our disconectedness from the fragmentation of:
- living in one suburb
- children may go to a school in another suburb
- the beach may be 90 min away
- we may drive to a regional shopping centre to shop
- our cousins may live in different suburbs or cities or states or countries
- social media has established international links.
so although we have fragmented social conections
When it comes to learning about a disclosure of sexual abuse
the networks of those with a connection to the survivor or survivors
and those the accused had direct or indirect contact with
becomes an ever widening circle of connections.
a wave of vicarious trauma
and that's those who need to know
meanwhile gossip spreads.
the wave of vicarious trauma rolls along with a life of it's own.
One can :
- ride the wave
- jump over the wave ( if it's not too high)
- dive through the wave ( without hitting the sand under the wave)
- you can ( if in shallow water) watch it roll past
but you can't stop the wave.
in the past institutions attempted to maintain a code of silence.
but the instances of sexual abuse and the cover up ended up in the courts
and Royal Commissions.
apart from the obligations of Mandatory Reporting
those directly and the ever widening circle of those indirectly affected
and those who may have been affected
need to know.
I have written a site Processing Vicarious Trauma which may be of assistance.
Let us remember the Lord is with us in our most difficult days
The Blessing was recorded during the 2020 pandemic restrictions