Affirmations to Mitigate Vicarious Trauma and Burnout for Helping Professionals

by Holly Madden

Friend, the very you reason you got into this line of work was to help others. Whether you spend your days on hospital floors, holding the weight of trauma in offices or behind computer screens, on the frontlines of crisis, in a car, in a classroom, or everywhere at once, you are here because you are a hope holder and someone who believes that healing and growth is attainable. But this work is heavy and hard and you are up against so much… so may these affirmations be received as balm, as truth, as hope, and as solidarity.

• Your value is in who you are as a person, not in the work you do.

• Your identity transcends your workplace and what you give to others.

• You were never meant to work at this pace for this long.

• The broken system is not yours to fix.

• You deserve rest, space, time off, time away, a reset, a reinvention, a vacation, or a break.

• The work you do every day, even the mundane detail work, matters.

• You were never meant to hold all this trauma.

• Having a hobby is not selfish.

• Taking time off is not selfish.

• It’s okay if this work is different than you thought it would be.

• Your boundaries and honoring your capacity are important and are a model to all those around you.

• It’s okay to say, “no.”

• Sometimes it just has to be about surviving.

• There are people in this world who are better off because of you.

• You deserve more support in your role (and better pay!).

• It’s okay to make a change.

• it’s okay to stay.

• Make time for you. Do what you love. Be who you want to be. The guilt you may feel has never belonged to you.

• You should be so proud of yourself.

• Take the nap.

• Give yourself breaks, treat yourself, work from home, delegate. Do what you need to do to take care of you.

• Trust your gut.

• Go to therapy yourself.