We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenny Hughes, PhD a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jenny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

One of the biggest risks I have ever taken was starting my business, BRAVE Providers, LLC! BRAVE is committed to supporting helpers and healers manage and overcome the inevitable experience of vicarious trauma, helping them prevent burnout and find realistic and sustainable ways to thrive in their work. This mission is near and dear to my heart because I too have experienced vicarious trauma and its effects!

Starting a business is a scary thing for most entrepreneurs, and being a clinical psychologist, I have always been very hesitant to put my own thoughts and viewpoints out there in a public way. This is really common because most mental health professionals are trained, rightly so, to keep their own lives private. Starting a non-clinical business like BRAVE meant I would HAVE to put myself out there though! Taking this risk has been incredibly rewarding because I now have the opportunity to not only teach about how to manage vicarious trauma but to also share my own experiences of being a trauma psychologist and dealing with VT, which helps other therapists feel less alone.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started my company, BRAVE Providers, LLC, to give back to other helpers and healers. I am a trauma psychologist by training and practice, meaning I work with survivors and help them overcome trauma and PTSD using evidence-based practices. I absolutely love the the clinical work I do with my clients and am inspired by their strength and tenacity every single day. However, I know firsthand the weight of being a helper/healer and noticed the lack of supports and communities specifically geared towards addressing the impact of Vicarious Trauma.

That is why I started The BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective – the first of many communities to come where helpers and healers can come together to learn about vicarious trauma and the helper/healer trauma response, but even more importantly, to receive support and understanding from people who truly get what it’s like to do this work.

I am so proud of all the work the members of The BRAVE Collective do together. They truly show up for each other with open hearts and zero judgment, knowing that the foundation of our community is acceptance of one another. The culture we are creating and fostering inside our community means our trauma therapist members feel safe to be vulnerable, which allows them to experience their own healing and to energize and empower their work as trauma therapists!

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

The short answer is YES!

I love this question as it relates very much to a practice I find helpful as a trauma psychologist and therapreneur (therapist entrepreneur!). We often walk around with lots of shoulda, woulda, couldas – I “should have” helped my client in this way; I “could have” made a different decision in my business. Ultimately these thoughts are just not helpful, but they are so very real and can be difficult to let go. One way to honor and validate these thoughts is by letting them play out – what if there was an alternate universe where you did make a different decision for your business? Can you imagine the outcomes of that choice and give your brain and imagination permission to play out the story from beginning to end? We are so often confronted with opportunities to make life-changing decisions, and what if all the outcomes could exist in some way?

For me, I “could have” been a ski racer if I had committed to that path in adolescence. I also “should have” made some different personal and professional choices throughout my life. Currently, I am so grateful for the path my choices have led me down, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sometimes daydream about what my alternate life as a professional ski racer might have been!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I believe honesty and authenticity have been most helpful to building my reputation as someone that fellow trauma therapists and other helpers and healers can trust when they are reaching out for the support they deserve. I do not shy away from discussing what it has been like for me to experience vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, AND burnout, because I’ve seen them all! I also work to be realistic in the ways I teach people how to manage these occupational hazards because I know everyone is on a different path and needs different supports. It’s scary to be so open and honest at times, but taking the risk to let other trauma therapists and helpers and healers know about my journey reminds them that they are not alone in these experiences and that naming our vicarious trauma does NOT mean we are aren’t strong enough or cut out for this work!

Contact Info:

• Website: braveproviders.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/braveproviders
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebravevicarioustraumacommunity
• Other: http://www.tiktok.com/@braveproviders