When Work Triggers Your Past: Surviving Trauma Time | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep 20

Ever felt completely professional one moment, then found yourself crying in your car because a meeting triggered something deep inside you? You're not imagining things—you might be experiencing "trauma time."

In this episode of Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide, I break down what happens when your nervous system gets stuck responding to current workplace situations as if they're past traumatic experiences, and most importantly, how to find your way back to the present moment where your actual power lives.

🎯 What You'll Discover:
✅ The hidden signs of "trauma time" in professional settings
✅ Why your body overrides what your logical mind knows is safe
✅ How trauma responses disguise themselves as work performance issues
✅ Practical tools to anchor yourself in real-time during triggers
✅ The antidote that actually works for workplace trauma responses

⏰ Episode Timestamps:
00:00 - Hook: When work triggers your past
01:00 - What is trauma time?
02:00 - Real-life example from my corporate experience
03:00 - Key characteristics of emotional flashbacks
04:00 - Hidden career costs of trauma time
06:00 - The antidote: Moving to real time
07:00 - Practical next steps you can implement today
09:00 - Integration over elimination approach

🔑 Key Takeaways:
Trauma time = when past experiences hijack present workplace moments
Career costs include hijacked decision-making, relationship minefields, inconsistent performance
The solution isn't eliminating trauma responses—it's learning to work WITH them
Your trauma history doesn't disqualify you from success—it can become your leadership foundation

🛠️ Practical Tools Shared:
5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique for desk use
Nervous system re-education strategies
Trauma-informed boundary setting
"Now vs. then" awareness practice

💡 Remember:
Your sensitivity is your strength, your awareness is your advantage, and your healing journey is preparing you for impact in ways you might not even realize yet.

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You're not walking this path alone.

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

When Work Triggers Your Past: Surviving Trauma Time | Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide Ep 20

Cyndi Bennett: [00:00:00] Have you ever walked into work feeling completely professional and competent only to find yourself crying in your car at lunch because a meeting triggered something deep inside you? Maybe your manager's tone reminded you of someone from your past, or feedback felt like criticism that cut straight to your core.

If you've ever felt like you're fighting an invisible battle at work, while everyone else navigates their day with ease, you're not imagining things. You might be living in what I call trauma time. And today we're going to talk about what that looks like, why it happens, and most importantly, how to find your way back to the present moment where your actual power lives.

I'm Cyndi Bennett, and this is Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide where we explore how trauma survivors can build careers that honor both their healing journey and their professional ambitions. This is episode [00:01:00] 20 and we're diving deep into trauma time.

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.

Let me start with a story that might sound familiar. I was working in HR change management, doing mergers and acquisitions work. I was good at work. I'd done successfully before, but then I got a new manager.

He was a former consultant who was new to our company and [00:02:00] trying to impress his bosses, which made him incredibly perfectionistic. Suddenly nothing I did was good enough. I was under a microscope. He expected first drafts to be perfect. I went home crying every night wondering what was wrong with me.

Here's what was really happening. Instead of showing up as a capable, experienced change analyst that I was, I was showing up as a kid who could do nothing right and could never measure up to gain approval. I had been transported to trauma time.

Trauma time is when your nervous system gets stuck responding to current situations as if their past traumatic experiences. Pete Walker calls these emotional flashbacks or amygdala hijackings, where you're suddenly and often prolonged regressed to those frightening [00:03:00] circumstances from your past. The key characteristics include: the past, bleeding into the present, disproportionate responses to small stressors, time distortions like minutes, feel like hours, your body overriding what your logical mind knows is safe and constant hyper vigilance and threat scanning.

Here's what trauma time actually cost you in your career, and I want you to know that recognizing these patterns isn't about judgment. It's about understanding.

So number one, decision making gets hijacked. Every workplace decision gets filtered through past danger rather than current opportunity. You might avoid speaking up in meetings or applying for promotions because they feel threatening to your nervous system, not because they actually are.

Number two, relationships become minefields. You might [00:04:00] misread a colleague's neutral expression as anger, leading to over-explaining or shutting down completely. Authority figures can trigger responses that have nothing to do with your current boss and everything to do with past power dynamics.

Number three, performance becomes inconsistent. That exhausting hypervigilance, masquerades as being detailed oriented, but it's actually your nervous system working overtime. Some days feel manageable, others feel impossible, and you can't figure out why.

Number four, energy gets consumed by survival. So much energy goes into managing trauma responses instead of focusing on actual work. Normal workplace stress triggers emotional flooding, making recovery from minor setbacks feel monumental.

The most challenging part? These [00:05:00] trauma responses often look like character flaws or poor work habits to others and sometimes to yourself. But they're actually intelligent survival strategies your nervous system developed to keep you safe. They just need updating for your current safer circumstances.

The antidote is moving from trauma time to real time. The good news is that you can learn to recognize trauma, time, and develop tools to return to the present moment. Let me share the antidote that actually works.

Number one. Present moment anchoring. Learn simple techniques you can use right at your desk, like the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding technique. You notice five things you can see four things you can hear three things you can touch, two things you can smell, one you can taste. This [00:06:00] helps your nervous system recognize safety in the here and now, but you have to practice it.

Number two, nervous system re-education. Your nervous system needs gentle evidence that your current workplace is different. Remind yourself of concrete differences. My current boss is not my former abuser. This job has HR policies that protect me. I have skills and options now. Write them on sticky notes, put them on your monitors or your wall.

Trauma informed boundaries is number three. Schedule buffer time after difficult meetings. Have a trusted colleague for reality checks. Develop scripts for triggering situations. These boundaries create enough space for you to show up authentically.

Integration, not elimination. The most powerful antidote is learning to integrate your [00:07:00] trauma wisdom into your professional identity. Your heightened awareness becomes strategic insight. Your empathy becomes exceptional leadership. Your understanding of resilience becomes your unique strength.

Let me give you practical next steps you can implement immediately. Start small. Notice when your body tenses during certain interactions. Practice one grounding technique during lunch. Acknowledge when you catch your mind time traveling to past wounds.

Develop somatic awareness. Learn to recognize early signs of activation. Maybe it's tension in your shoulders or changes in your breathing, or that particular stomach feeling. Once you can identify these early warnings, you can intervene before your fully hijacked. Ask [00:08:00] yourself, is this reaction about now or then? This isn't about dismissing your responses, it's about getting curious. Sometimes your reaction is absolutely about the current situation. Other times it's your nervous system responding to old wounds.

The goal isn't to never have trauma responses at work, that's not realistic. The goal is to recognize when they're happening, have the tools to work with them, and gradually build enough safety that your past doesn't completely dictate your professional present.

Your trauma history doesn't disqualify you from professional success. When integrated with intention, it becomes the very foundation of your authentic leadership and lasting impact.

If today's episode resonated with you, I want you to know you're not alone in this experience. Healing isn't linear and [00:09:00] there will be days when trauma time feels stronger than others. That's not a failure. That's being human with a trauma history, navigating complex professional environments.

Here's what I want you to do right now. Take a moment to appreciate yourself for listening to this episode, for being willing to understand your responses rather than judge them. That awareness is the first step towards transformation.

If you're ready to dive deeper into trauma-informed career development, I'd love to support you. You can find resources on my website, which I will link in the show notes. And if you're ready for personalized support, I offer trauma-informed career coaching, specifically designed for survivors who are ready to integrate their healing wisdom with their professional ambitions. Please share this episode with someone who might need to hear it.

Sometimes, knowing we're not alone in these experiences is the most [00:10:00] healing medicine of all. Until next time. Remember, your sensitivity is your strength, your awareness is your advantage, and your healing journey is preparing you for impact in ways you might not even realize yet.

This is Your Trauma-Wise Career Guide. I'm Cyndi Bennett, and I'll see you next week.

You're not walking this path alone. Every step you take toward a trauma-wise career is an act of courage, and I'm here cheering you on. If today's episode resonated with you, share it with another survivor who needs to hear this message. Together we're rewriting the rules of career success. Keep rising, keep healing, keep building.