The Awakening of Forgotten Strengths for Trauma Survivors | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep. 003

Reconnecting with Your Natural Strengths: A Trauma-Informed Approach

In this episode of Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, I explore how trauma obscures your inherent strengths and why trauma survivors often struggle to recognize their authentic talents. As a trauma-informed career coach, I share a gentle framework for awakening forgotten strengths while honoring your healing journey.

Discover how to:
* Differentiate between authentic talents and survival strategies by examining energy impact
* Break through the normalization barrier that hides your natural abilities
* Overcome trauma response confusion that masks your true strengths
* Move beyond the survival ceiling that limits your career fulfillment

You'll learn practical, trauma-sensitive techniques including creating safety for self-exploration, recognizing personal energy patterns, and gathering external reflections. I'll also introduce my Contrast Reflection Method—a powerful technique to identify authentic strengths without triggering trauma responses.

Welcome to Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, where I reimagine career development for trauma survivors. I'm your host, Cyndi Bennett, founder of the Resilient Career Academy, helping you discover sustainable energy from work that truly aligns with your genuine strengths.

🔗 Access additional resources: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/resources
🎙️ Connect with me: cyndi@cyndibennettconsulting.com
🌟 Join the Resilient Career Academy: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/rcalearningcommunity

#TraumaWiseCareer #AuthenticStrengths #HealingJourney #CareerDevelopment #TraumaSurvivors

00:00 Introduction: Trauma and Hidden Talents
00:28 Understanding the Strength Identification Gap
01:19 The Impact of Trauma on Career Navigation
01:58 Discovering Your Natural Strengths
04:24 Differentiating Strengths from Survival Strategies
07:58 A Trauma-Informed Approach to Strength Discovery
09:37 Breaking Through the Survival Ceiling
13:21 The Contrast Reflection Method
16:04 Conclusion and Next Steps

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your career journey:

1. Free trauma-informed career development resources from my website! Visit https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com for always up-to-date tips.
2. Ready to build a fulfilling career with trauma-informed support? Join The Resilient Career Academy Learning Community, where trauma survivors support each other, share resources, and develop career resilience in a safe, understanding environment
3. Ready for personalized trauma-informed career coaching? Explore my range of virtual coaching packages designed for different stages of your career journey. Visit my website to find the right support for where you are now. [Visit my website: https://www.cyndibennettconsulting.com/1-on-1-coaching]

DISCLOSURE: Some links I share might contain resources that you might find helpful. Whenever possible I use referral links, which means if you click any of the links in this video or description and make a purchase we may receive a small commission or other compensation at no cost to you.

Transcript

The Awakening of Forgotten Strengths for Trauma Survivors | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep. 003
Cyndi Bennett: [00:00:00] It is both heartbreaking and hopeful to witness how trauma can obscure our inherent talents, gifts that haven't disappeared, but are quietly waiting for the right conditions to reemerge and flourish.
Have you noticed how easily you can identify others' needs while drawing a blank when asked about your own natural talents? Do you excel during a crisis, but question your abilities in calmer times.
These are signs of the strength identification gap, many trauma survivors experience. In this episode, I'm sharing a gentle framework for awakening your forgotten strengths, not skills developed to survive trauma, but authentic talents that have always been a part of you.
Having personally journeyed from survival mode to strength-based work, I've guided hundreds of survivors towards careers that energize rather than deplete them.
Without reconnecting to these inherent [00:01:00] strengths, you risk building a career on survival strategies that leave you perpetually exhausted, hitting what I call the survival ceiling.
Don't settle for mere enduring your work life when you could be experiencing the sustainable energy that comes from authentic strengths.
Did you know that trauma impacts how we navigate our careers, but most career advice ignores this reality? Imagine feeling confident and safe at work while honoring your healing journey.
Welcome to your Trauma Wise Career Guide, the podcast that reimagines, career development for trauma survivors. I'm your host, Cyndi Bennett, a trauma survivor, turned trauma informed career coach and founder of the Resilient Career Academy. If you're navigating your career. While honoring your healing journey, you are in the right place.
In our journey together, [00:02:00] we've talked about challenges and triggers in the workplace, and today we're shifting focus to something powerful, discovering the natural strengths that have always been within you.
What would it feel like to build a career around talents that energize rather than deplete you, to contribute through gifts that come naturally instead of forcing yourself to fit into roles that drain your spirit?
For many trauma survivors, these questions don't just feel challenging. They feel almost impossible to answer. This isn't because these strengths don't exist. It's because survival doesn't leave much room for discovery.
So why do trauma survivors struggle with strength identification? Think of strengths, discovery as a luxury that requires certain conditions: safety, encouragement, experimentation and feedback [00:03:00] for children developing in supportive environments. These conditions allow natural talents to emerge and be recognized, but when trauma enters the picture, this natural discovery process gets hijacked. The brain's primary focus shifts from what am I good at to how do I stay safe? Energy that might have been invested in exploring interests in developing talents is redirected toward monitoring threats, managing emotions, and simply getting through each day. This creates a profound strength identification gap that can persist well into adulthood.
You might easily identify what others need, but struggle to name what you naturally excel at, feel competent in crisis, but uncertain of your capabilities In normal conditions, know how to perform and please others, but remain disconnected from your authentic gifts. [00:04:00] If this resonates with you, please understand, this isn't a personal failing. It's a normal consequence of growing up in an environment where safety took precedence over exploration and self-discovery.
The good news, your natural strengths didn't disappear. They've just been waiting for the right conditions to emerge.
So how do we distinguish natural strengths from survival strategies? One of the biggest challenges in this process is differentiating between authentic strengths and survival strategies.
Number one, look at the energy impact. Natural strengths energize you while survival strategies ultimately deplete you. When you work from genuine strengths, you access a renewable energy source that replenishes rather than depletes you.
Think about tasks that you can engage with for hours where time seems to [00:05:00] flow differently and compare that to work that you're perfectly capable of doing, but that leaves you exhausted afterward. That contrast often reveals the difference between strengths and survival strategies.
Number two, the normalization barrier. Our most natural strengths often feel so intrinsic that we don't recognize them as special. You might dismiss remarkable abilities with thoughts like, "doesn't everyone notice these patterns", or, "this is just common sense." When you start tracking your energy patterns, you might be surprised by what you discover.
Many trauma survivors find that certain activities they've always done without thinking, like organizing information, finding connection between ideas or translating complex concepts into clear language, actually leave them feeling invigorated rather than drained. Often these are [00:06:00] things they've dismissed because they come so naturally.
And number three, the trauma response confusion. It's important to distinguish between adaptive trauma responses and genuine strengths.
Adaptive responses like hyper vigilance or people pleasing were necessary for survival, but they typically deplete your energy when used long term.
Natural strengths, on the other hand, are inherent capabilities that genuinely feel energizing when engaged. They're not responses to trauma, but authentic parts of who you are that may have been overshadowed by the need to survive.
Most career development resources assume you have easy access to information about your natural talents. Standard personality tests and strength finders don't account for how trauma reshapes our relationship with our capabilities. When typical [00:07:00] assessments ask about childhood interests or what you've always enjoyed, they can inadvertently trigger painful memories rather than useful insights for trauma survivors.
Even well-meaning questions like what are you naturally good at? Can leave survivors feeling inadequate or confused when they draw a blank.
Additionally, these traditional methods often fail to distinguish between genuine strengths and well-developed survival strategies. The capabilities that have helped you navigate difficult circumstances might register as strengths on standard assessments, even if engaging them ultimately depletes rather than energizes you.
Without approaches specifically designed for trauma survivors, the strengths discovery process can become another source of frustration rather than the path to career fulfillment it should be.
Today I want to [00:08:00] provide you with a framework for discovering your natural talents. So here's a trauma-informed approach to discovering your natural strengths.
Number one, create safety for exploration. Begin by establishing conditions that make strength exploration feel safe. Complete your exploration at your own pace. Set realistic expectations. Strength discovery after trauma is typically gradual. Give yourself permission to pause anytime it feels overwhelming.
Number two, notice energy patterns. Rather than immediately trying to name your strengths, track your energy. Keep a simple log of activities that energize versus deplete you. Pay attention to flow states times when you become so absorbed that time disappears. Notice what you find easy, that others find difficult.
And number three, [00:09:00] gather external reflections. Since trauma can distort our self perception, ask three to five trusted people what they see as your natural gifts. Look for patterns across their responses. Request specific examples rather than general labels.
Number four, try micro experiments. Create low risk opportunities to explore potential strengths. Simple time limited activities to test different capabilities. Approach with curiosity rather than evaluation. Notice which activities create a desire to learn more.
How can we break through the survival ceiling? Many trauma survivors hit what I call a survival ceiling in their careers. They reach a level of success based on adaptation and determination, but find themselves unable to break through to truly fulfilling work.
This ceiling exists because survival-based success [00:10:00] differs fundamentally from strength aligned thriving. When your career is built primarily on capabilities that emerged as trauma responses, you may achieve external markers of success while feeling internally depleted, disconnected or stuck breaking through the ceiling requires more than just working harder or acquiring new skills within the same framework. It requires a fundamentally different approach to how you understand and leverage your capabilities.
Breaking through the ceiling means shifting from depletion to sustainable energy, from external validation to internal direction, from should-based decisions to authentic alignment. This isn't just about career advancement, it's about reclaiming parts of yourself that trauma may have obscured but could never truly erase.
And make sure to stay with me until the end of [00:11:00] today's episode because I'll be sharing a powerful technique that has helped countless trauma survivors identify their authentic strengths when nothing else worked.
This method bypasses the inner critic that so often blocks us from seeing our natural gifts, and it's something that you can start using immediately to gain clarity about the talents that have been with you all along.
Today we've explored how trauma can obscure our inherent strengths and why trauma survivors struggle to identify their natural talents. We've learned how to distinguish between energizing authentic strengths and depleting survival strategies by examining energy impact, recognizing the normalization barrier, and understanding trauma response confusion.
I've shared a practical framework that includes creating safety for exploration, noticing energy patterns, gathering external [00:12:00] reflections, and trying micro experiments.
And we've discussed the survival ceiling that limits career fulfillment when we rely solely on adaptive capabilities rather than authentic strengths.
But understanding these concepts intellectually isn't enough to transform your relationship with your strengths or your career. The journey of strength discovery after trauma requires both guidance and community, a safe container to explore, experiment, and grow.
That's why I'd like to invite you to join the Resilient Career Academy Learning Community. This program was specifically designed to create the safety, encouragement, and feedback that trauma survivors need to reconnect with their authentic strengths.
In our community, you'll find a supportive environment where your experiences are understood, [00:13:00] where your discoveries are celebrated, and where your growth is nurtured by others walking similar paths.
The contact information to join us is linked in the show notes. If you're ready to move beyond survival mode and discover the sustainable energy that comes from work aligned with your genuine strengths, we're here to support you every step of the way.
Before we wrap up, I want to share a powerful technique that many trauma survivors miss when trying to identify their authentic strengths: The contrast reflection method.
Here's how it works. Think about a recent project or challenge where you felt deeply satisfied with your contribution. Now instead of focusing on what you accomplished, focus on how you approached the task differently than others might have.
For example, did you naturally organize information in a visual way, while others preferred written [00:14:00] lists? Did you instinctively consider the emotional impact of decisions while others focus primarily on logistics? Did you find yourself drawn to the big picture patterns while others concentrated on specific details?
These contrasts often reveal your authentic strengths far more clearly than simply asking, what am I good at?
What makes this technique especially valuable for trauma survivors is that it bypasses the self-judgment that often accompanies direct self-assessment. When you compare approaches rather than outcomes, you're more likely to notice your natural gifts without the inner critic immediately dismissing them.
I've seen this technique create breakthrough moments for clients who've spent years unable to name a single strength.
One person realized their ability to translate [00:15:00] technical concepts into accessible language wasn't just basic communication, but a genuine talent for bridging different worlds. Another discovered their intuitive understanding of systems and interconnections. Wasn't just common sense, but a sophisticated strength that most people don't possess.
Try this. After your next team meeting or collaborative project, jot down three ways your natural approach differed from others involved. Don't judge these differences as better or worse. Just notice them.
These contrasts often contain clues to strengths you've been carrying all along, but haven't recognized as special.
Remember, your most natural strengths often feel so intrinsic that you don't see them as extraordinary, but when you learn to spot these differences with curiosity rather than judgment, you begin to uncover the authentic gifts that [00:16:00] can form the foundation of truly energizing work.
For next week's episode, we'll be exploring healing the workplace, understanding trauma-informed management, part one, how organizations can create environments that support rather than re-traumatize employees with trauma histories.
Until then, I invite you to begin noticing your energy patterns, what depletes you and what energizes you. This simple awareness is the first step toward reclaiming your forgotten strengths.
Thank you for being part of this community. Take care of yourselves and I'll talk with you next week.