September 11, 2023 • 14 mins
You didn’t have to be at Ground Zero to feel the impact of Sept 11th. Events like 9/11, can have an impact on you just by witnessing it through the media or hearing other other people’s first-hand traumas. And when Mother Nature shows her power, we feel powerless. This day and experience is just one of many that can create duress. On this episode of HIListically Speaking, Hilary not only shares her personal experience as both a health journalist and trauma-informed emotional health practitioner who has been confronted with secondary traumatic stress, but offers solutions to protect your own emotional well-being.
During this episode, you’ll discover:
- The difference between secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and burnout
- What signs to look for that could be effective your mind, body, and spirit
- Tools and resources to help you build resiliency and emotional stability
- Plus a chance to share your voice on the podcast and HUG it Out!
-
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https://www.hilaryrusso.com/events
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Website: https://www.hilaryrusso.com/podcast
HIListically Speaking with Hilary Russo
Created/Hosted by Hilary Russo
Music by Lipbone Redding https://lipbone.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hilary Russo (00:01):
22 years ago was a wake-up call for the
entire world.
Do you remember where you were on September
11, 2001?
I know I do.
How could I not?
I was hustling to get ready for work and,
as always around 8.45 in the morning, I was
(00:22):
headed out the door for my daily 9 am
meeting at the TV news station when my dad
decided to call Great timing right and he
asked me if I had the TV on.
Of course I did.
I was a TV news journalist.
The TV was always on, but this conversation
was different.
(00:44):
Instead of it being how are you doing,
what's going on?
It was get your butt to work.
And that's when I stood there in my living
room for about 30 seconds watching the
Today Show and just like that I flew out
the door and I made it to the station in
time to watch with my colleagues.
That second plane hit around the news feeds.
(01:07):
Watch with my colleagues.
That second plane hit around the news feeds.
What happened next was a blur.
I was 29, a young anchor reporter who was
also married to an Air Force officer at the
time, and I had no clue where anyone that
meant anything to me was, including my
husband, who was on lockdown at the base
where we were stationed and where we also
made our home.
(01:28):
And for me, I was 90 miles away in my
apartment where I stayed during the week my
friends and family back in New York, out of
reach, out of touch, and, frankly, I hardly
knew where the hell I was in that moment,
except I was in go mode.
(01:48):
And I'm telling you this not to make this
episode about September 11th, but because
this day likely had an impact on you too in
some way or another.
This is secondary trauma or secondary
traumatic stress, and what STS is is it's
referring to the natural behaviors or
emotions that often result from knowing
(02:09):
about a traumatic event or an experience
and the stress that results from helping or
wanting to help someone who firsthand is
going through this traumatic event or
suffering from the experience themselves.
And if you have any ounce of empathy in
your body which I know you do because you
listen to the HIListically
Speaking podcast you know this day as well
(02:30):
as many others have impacted you deeply,
and you've likely experienced secondary
traumatic stress just from witnessing the
devastation that occurs around the world
every day Natural disasters that occurs
around the world every day Natural
disasters, crime, pain, life.
Think about it Every time you are swiping
(02:58):
through those news feeds or you turn on the
TV.
You know we have a saying in the news
business if it bleeds, it leads, and the
more dramatic and traumatic the news events
are, the higher it is in the news block,
right In the story of that half hour news
show activating you and your emotions.
Movies do that too, don't they In the media,
(03:18):
really any form of media?
They hit a pain point, as they say, and
frankly, frankly, I imagine I'm doing that
right now.
But the difference here is that I want to
offer you solutions, possibilities that I
wish I had on that day as a young
journalist, when I was sitting on that set
(03:39):
or in the field and I didn't have a clue
how to support my own emotional well-being
tools that I have now as someone who is
still a health journalist and a
trauma-informed holistic practitioner.
I had limited resources back then to
support my own healing and I did what I had
to do right, as many of you did as well,
(04:02):
and I imagine that that made things
difficult, you know, not knowing where to
go and what to do, because it's not just
about what we're seeing in the world, right,
it's about what we witness just in our own
personal lives.
It's the stories that your loved ones share
with you, that they tell you in confidence,
and they impact you.
(04:22):
It's your friends and your family that open
up to tell you something heavy and painful
that they're going through, and it might
have some kind of effect on you that is
greater than you ever imagined.
It's the struggle of your child's upsets,
your child's pains, that you feel.
Because you feel and for that reason, the
(04:44):
chances are you've been impacted by
secondary traumatic stress.
And while STS is known to heavily impact
the healthcare workers, the military
personnel, the mental health professionals,
the first responders, it can take a toll on
you too, from the forgotten first
(05:05):
responders, the journalists that are all
around the world, to the first graders who
are learning about history around the world
right now, as we speak in classrooms
everywhere, we are all at risk of STS.
The trouble is we're also bombarded with
keywords and hashtags that make information
(05:26):
overload a real problem.
Buzzwords like burnout and overwhelm on
social media every day.
They make it difficult to decipher the real
problem and the root cause.
Burnout is not secondary traumatic stress,
and knowing the difference could be a game
changer when it comes to your emotional
(05:47):
well-being.
Burnout is a workplace syndrome that is
characterized by high emotional exhaustion,
irritability, a low sense of personal
accomplishment from work, like compassion
fatigue, which is generally the result of a
prolonged exposure to multiple traumatic
(06:10):
events.
It sets in over time, but secondary
traumatic stress can be immediate and it
can result from one event like what
happened 22 years ago.
Today the symptoms can be the same
behaviorally, psychologically, cognitively,
spiritually, you could have feelings
(06:32):
associated with grief, have feelings
associated with grief, anxiety, sadness,
perhaps you've had mood swings or even find
yourself easily distracted.
It could lead to irregular sleep and eating
patterns and it could even bring on
headaches and rashes and gut issues and
(06:52):
other physical problems gut issues and
other physical problems.
Cognitively, there can be brain fog and
memory loss and sometimes you even
experience feelings of hopelessness, loss
of purpose and an unworthiness that can
really set in In Left.
Untreated studies show it can even lead to
(07:13):
an increased risk of suicide and substance
abuse, which is why a trauma-informed
approach to creating a healthy culture from
the living room to the boardroom is
essential to reducing these risks of
secondary traumatic stress, as well as
(07:33):
burnout and other workplace distress.
So here are a few things that you can do to
be kind to your mind A few things I share
with my clients, as well as those who take
my workshops or even are part of my
corporate wellness programs, that I hope
will help you and provide the self-care you
(07:55):
need for that resilient state that really
exists within.
If you work in a field that is more likely
to be exposed to secondary trauma, consider
adjusting your caseload and diversifying
your work.
Spread out your clients and your patients
so that you aren't handling cases back to
back that are too heavy and all at once.
(08:20):
You aren't handling cases back to back that
are too heavy and all at once.
Pacing yourself is really important, not
only for you, but for those you serve.
I do this and I found it to be really
helpful, and I recently shared this at a
global conference where I was speaking on
this very topic of secondary traumatic
stress to an audience of doctors and
practitioners and therapists and those in
the healthcare industry, and the feedback
(08:41):
was really quite astonishing, because it is
so easy to forget about self when your life
is really about focusing about being of
service.
But imagine how much greater service you
can be if you aren't a disservice to
yourself.
Be mindful of your boundaries and what you
allow in your own personal space and
(09:04):
remember, no matter what field you are in,
no matter what you do for a living, no
matter how old you are or how young you are,
asking for help is never a bad thing.
Quite the contrary, even the best
practitioners and coaches have their own
practitioners and coaches.
Create a safe space to allow healthy
(09:24):
supervision.
It's about knowing your limits and
understanding the impact and, of course,
educating yourself Personally outside of
the workplace.
It's also helpful to seek positive
experiences, positive people and find a
support network that you can trust to help
build that sense of resiliency.
(09:45):
And I have a few for you that are free and
a safe place.
To begin, I want you to come and join the
Hug it Out Collective on Facebook.
This is a group that I started.
It's a wonderful community of positive
minds that include trauma informed
practitioners just like myself, as well as
moms and dads and teachers and students.
(10:06):
We are all there.
It's everyday people just like you and me
that believe in the importance of self-care
in a safe space, and I hope that you will
take some time just to join the group.
Check in every once in a while.
I added the link in the podcast notes.
You can also join my monthly Havening Happy
Hour on Zoom.
Now, I did this during the pandemic and it
was really a wonderful way to connect with
(10:27):
other people and this is a chance to put
the power of active emotional wellbeing
right back in your own hands during a
virtual experience that is guided by me, we
do a little havening, we have a little fun
and it's really just a powerful way to put
some brain candy back in your brain candy
jar for self-healing, self-regulation,
self-love and self-care.
(10:49):
And I also put a link to that in the
podcast notes and I do hope you'll join us.
I'm about ready to launch the next one, so
I want you to sign up before you miss it.
And while balance and boundaries are really
important, so are realistic expectations.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
I want you to go easy on yourselves, be
kind to yourself, be kind to your mind and
(11:11):
just realize that you have the power to
face that inner bully and win.
It's really about just owning your space.
Just being here and tuning in and listening
is a step in the right direction, which
leads me to appreciation.
There's a reason why the hug it out method
ends with gratitude, the H-U-G right,
(11:33):
because it's the most important part of the
healing and the understanding is having
that self-gratitude.
All too often we spend time looking outside
of ourselves for things that we are
appreciative of, things that we're grateful
for.
It's really time we look within, making
amends with our own mind, loving self,
knowing self and being okay with being the
human that we are and the one that we want
(11:54):
to become.
We are all works in progress, after all.
In fact, I'd love to end this conversation
with a request.
If you're open to it, I want you to head on
over to speakpipecom slash.
HIListically speaking, I'll put that in the
podcast notes and share something about
yourself that you're grateful for.
(12:16):
Maybe you are a great gift giver or a baker,
or a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a partner
whatever it is.
Maybe you're an incredible teacher and
you're proud of what you create for your
students, or a wonderful parent, or just a
good friend.
Maybe you adopt animals.
Maybe you're just a kick-ass quilter.
(12:38):
I don't care what it is.
I just want to know what you appreciate
about yourself, something that you do that
you find valuable, that you know puts value
into the world.
I want you to share your voice so that I
can share it on a future episode about
gratitude, if this podcast episode
resonates with you, consider passing it
along, sharing it with somebody that might
(12:58):
find it valuable too.
And don't forget to subscribe to
HIListically Speaking wherever your earbuds
take you, so that you never miss an episode.
And finally, if you're interested in having
me share how to hug it out, if you'd like
for me to speak at your next event or
create a wellness workshop for your company
or your corporation around secondary
(13:19):
traumatic stress and ways to be kind to
your mind, drop me a line at Hilary at
HilaryRusso dot.
com.
I
shared that link in the notes as well.
I would love to hear from you and support
those that you support.
Remember this, my friend secondary trauma
may impact you, but it doesn't own you.
You have the tools and the resources
(13:39):
necessary to make the change.
I know this because I've been there and
I've done it myself, and I'm here to
support you as well.
On that note, a reminder that I appreciate
you, I love you and I'll see you next week.
Be well.
22 years ago was a wake-up call for the
entire world.
Do you remember where you were on September
11, 2001?
I know I do.
How could I not?
I was hustling to get ready for work and,
as always around 8.45 in the morning, I was
(00:22):
headed out the door for my daily 9 am
meeting at the TV news station when my dad
decided to call Great timing right and he
asked me if I had the TV on.
Of course I did.
I was a TV news journalist.
The TV was always on, but this conversation
was different.
(00:44):
Instead of it being how are you doing,
what's going on?
It was get your butt to work.
And that's when I stood there in my living
room for about 30 seconds watching the
Today Show and just like that I flew out
the door and I made it to the station in
time to watch with my colleagues.
That second plane hit around the news feeds.
(01:07):
Watch with my colleagues.
That second plane hit around the news feeds.
What happened next was a blur.
I was 29, a young anchor reporter who was
also married to an Air Force officer at the
time, and I had no clue where anyone that
meant anything to me was, including my
husband, who was on lockdown at the base
where we were stationed and where we also
made our home.
(01:28):
And for me, I was 90 miles away in my
apartment where I stayed during the week my
friends and family back in New York, out of
reach, out of touch, and, frankly, I hardly
knew where the hell I was in that moment,
except I was in go mode.
(01:48):
And I'm telling you this not to make this
episode about September 11th, but because
this day likely had an impact on you too in
some way or another.
This is secondary trauma or secondary
traumatic stress, and what STS is is it's
referring to the natural behaviors or
emotions that often result from knowing
(02:09):
about a traumatic event or an experience
and the stress that results from helping or
wanting to help someone who firsthand is
going through this traumatic event or
suffering from the experience themselves.
And if you have any ounce of empathy in
your body which I know you do because you
listen to the HIListically
Speaking podcast you know this day as well
(02:30):
as many others have impacted you deeply,
and you've likely experienced secondary
traumatic stress just from witnessing the
devastation that occurs around the world
every day Natural disasters that occurs
around the world every day Natural
disasters, crime, pain, life.
Think about it Every time you are swiping
(02:58):
through those news feeds or you turn on the
TV.
You know we have a saying in the news
business if it bleeds, it leads, and the
more dramatic and traumatic the news events
are, the higher it is in the news block,
right In the story of that half hour news
show activating you and your emotions.
Movies do that too, don't they In the media,
(03:18):
really any form of media?
They hit a pain point, as they say, and
frankly, frankly, I imagine I'm doing that
right now.
But the difference here is that I want to
offer you solutions, possibilities that I
wish I had on that day as a young
journalist, when I was sitting on that set
(03:39):
or in the field and I didn't have a clue
how to support my own emotional well-being
tools that I have now as someone who is
still a health journalist and a
trauma-informed holistic practitioner.
I had limited resources back then to
support my own healing and I did what I had
to do right, as many of you did as well,
(04:02):
and I imagine that that made things
difficult, you know, not knowing where to
go and what to do, because it's not just
about what we're seeing in the world, right,
it's about what we witness just in our own
personal lives.
It's the stories that your loved ones share
with you, that they tell you in confidence,
and they impact you.
(04:22):
It's your friends and your family that open
up to tell you something heavy and painful
that they're going through, and it might
have some kind of effect on you that is
greater than you ever imagined.
It's the struggle of your child's upsets,
your child's pains, that you feel.
Because you feel and for that reason, the
(04:44):
chances are you've been impacted by
secondary traumatic stress.
And while STS is known to heavily impact
the healthcare workers, the military
personnel, the mental health professionals,
the first responders, it can take a toll on
you too, from the forgotten first
(05:05):
responders, the journalists that are all
around the world, to the first graders who
are learning about history around the world
right now, as we speak in classrooms
everywhere, we are all at risk of STS.
The trouble is we're also bombarded with
keywords and hashtags that make information
(05:26):
overload a real problem.
Buzzwords like burnout and overwhelm on
social media every day.
They make it difficult to decipher the real
problem and the root cause.
Burnout is not secondary traumatic stress,
and knowing the difference could be a game
changer when it comes to your emotional
(05:47):
well-being.
Burnout is a workplace syndrome that is
characterized by high emotional exhaustion,
irritability, a low sense of personal
accomplishment from work, like compassion
fatigue, which is generally the result of a
prolonged exposure to multiple traumatic
(06:10):
events.
It sets in over time, but secondary
traumatic stress can be immediate and it
can result from one event like what
happened 22 years ago.
Today the symptoms can be the same
behaviorally, psychologically, cognitively,
spiritually, you could have feelings
(06:32):
associated with grief, have feelings
associated with grief, anxiety, sadness,
perhaps you've had mood swings or even find
yourself easily distracted.
It could lead to irregular sleep and eating
patterns and it could even bring on
headaches and rashes and gut issues and
(06:52):
other physical problems gut issues and
other physical problems.
Cognitively, there can be brain fog and
memory loss and sometimes you even
experience feelings of hopelessness, loss
of purpose and an unworthiness that can
really set in In Left.
Untreated studies show it can even lead to
(07:13):
an increased risk of suicide and substance
abuse, which is why a trauma-informed
approach to creating a healthy culture from
the living room to the boardroom is
essential to reducing these risks of
secondary traumatic stress, as well as
(07:33):
burnout and other workplace distress.
So here are a few things that you can do to
be kind to your mind A few things I share
with my clients, as well as those who take
my workshops or even are part of my
corporate wellness programs, that I hope
will help you and provide the self-care you
(07:55):
need for that resilient state that really
exists within.
If you work in a field that is more likely
to be exposed to secondary trauma, consider
adjusting your caseload and diversifying
your work.
Spread out your clients and your patients
so that you aren't handling cases back to
back that are too heavy and all at once.
(08:20):
You aren't handling cases back to back that
are too heavy and all at once.
Pacing yourself is really important, not
only for you, but for those you serve.
I do this and I found it to be really
helpful, and I recently shared this at a
global conference where I was speaking on
this very topic of secondary traumatic
stress to an audience of doctors and
practitioners and therapists and those in
the healthcare industry, and the feedback
(08:41):
was really quite astonishing, because it is
so easy to forget about self when your life
is really about focusing about being of
service.
But imagine how much greater service you
can be if you aren't a disservice to
yourself.
Be mindful of your boundaries and what you
allow in your own personal space and
(09:04):
remember, no matter what field you are in,
no matter what you do for a living, no
matter how old you are or how young you are,
asking for help is never a bad thing.
Quite the contrary, even the best
practitioners and coaches have their own
practitioners and coaches.
Create a safe space to allow healthy
(09:24):
supervision.
It's about knowing your limits and
understanding the impact and, of course,
educating yourself Personally outside of
the workplace.
It's also helpful to seek positive
experiences, positive people and find a
support network that you can trust to help
build that sense of resiliency.
(09:45):
And I have a few for you that are free and
a safe place.
To begin, I want you to come and join the
Hug it Out Collective on Facebook.
This is a group that I started.
It's a wonderful community of positive
minds that include trauma informed
practitioners just like myself, as well as
moms and dads and teachers and students.
(10:06):
We are all there.
It's everyday people just like you and me
that believe in the importance of self-care
in a safe space, and I hope that you will
take some time just to join the group.
Check in every once in a while.
I added the link in the podcast notes.
You can also join my monthly Havening Happy
Hour on Zoom.
Now, I did this during the pandemic and it
was really a wonderful way to connect with
(10:27):
other people and this is a chance to put
the power of active emotional wellbeing
right back in your own hands during a
virtual experience that is guided by me, we
do a little havening, we have a little fun
and it's really just a powerful way to put
some brain candy back in your brain candy
jar for self-healing, self-regulation,
self-love and self-care.
(10:49):
And I also put a link to that in the
podcast notes and I do hope you'll join us.
I'm about ready to launch the next one, so
I want you to sign up before you miss it.
And while balance and boundaries are really
important, so are realistic expectations.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
I want you to go easy on yourselves, be
kind to yourself, be kind to your mind and
(11:11):
just realize that you have the power to
face that inner bully and win.
It's really about just owning your space.
Just being here and tuning in and listening
is a step in the right direction, which
leads me to appreciation.
There's a reason why the hug it out method
ends with gratitude, the H-U-G right,
(11:33):
because it's the most important part of the
healing and the understanding is having
that self-gratitude.
All too often we spend time looking outside
of ourselves for things that we are
appreciative of, things that we're grateful
for.
It's really time we look within, making
amends with our own mind, loving self,
knowing self and being okay with being the
human that we are and the one that we want
(11:54):
to become.
We are all works in progress, after all.
In fact, I'd love to end this conversation
with a request.
If you're open to it, I want you to head on
over to speakpipecom slash.
HIListically speaking, I'll put that in the
podcast notes and share something about
yourself that you're grateful for.
(12:16):
Maybe you are a great gift giver or a baker,
or a boyfriend or a girlfriend or a partner
whatever it is.
Maybe you're an incredible teacher and
you're proud of what you create for your
students, or a wonderful parent, or just a
good friend.
Maybe you adopt animals.
Maybe you're just a kick-ass quilter.
(12:38):
I don't care what it is.
I just want to know what you appreciate
about yourself, something that you do that
you find valuable, that you know puts value
into the world.
I want you to share your voice so that I
can share it on a future episode about
gratitude, if this podcast episode
resonates with you, consider passing it
along, sharing it with somebody that might
(12:58):
find it valuable too.
And don't forget to subscribe to
HIListically Speaking wherever your earbuds
take you, so that you never miss an episode.
And finally, if you're interested in having
me share how to hug it out, if you'd like
for me to speak at your next event or
create a wellness workshop for your company
or your corporation around secondary
(13:19):
traumatic stress and ways to be kind to
your mind, drop me a line at Hilary at
HilaryRusso dot.
com.
I
shared that link in the notes as well.
I would love to hear from you and support
those that you support.
Remember this, my friend secondary trauma
may impact you, but it doesn't own you.
You have the tools and the resources
(13:39):
necessary to make the change.
I know this because I've been there and
I've done it myself, and I'm here to
support you as well.
On that note, a reminder that I appreciate
you, I love you and I'll see you next week.
Be well.
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