Blog
The Personal as the New Professional
From Danielle Grondin-Villanueva, EMPA, Organizational Change Strategist, Trauma Informed Oregon
Growing up, I was raised with an understanding that “the personal is not professional,” meaning that it was best to keep matters of our health, our politics, and our after-work-hour happenings to ourselves. In 2017, all of that social conditioning changed when I became a Peer Support Specialist; my job description literally included sharing some of my most traumatic experiences as a way to build trust and mutual understanding with other people who may be navigating similar situations. Don’t worry – I shared a lot about hope and possibilities, too.
When I joined Trauma Informed Oregon’s team in late 2021, it was honestly refreshing to be able to introduce myself in a meeting without also needing to name my lived experience. As I grew increasingly comfortable in community training spaces, I aimed for a more balanced approach of sharing my story without it having to be central. Even with the most simple shares, it became apparent that outside of the behavioral health field, most work cultures are not accustomed to people being so forthcoming with their mental health or addiction journeys. In our feedback forums, people most often thank me for simply sharing my truth that I struggle like the rest of us humans.
The Impact of Trauma-Informed Practices on Workplace Well-Being
At this point in my career, I do not know how I would function in a work environment that does not embrace and plan for the impacts of our “personal lives” crossing into our “professional responsibilities.” In TIO’s Essential Elements, Organizational Commitment means that “organizations acknowledge that an understanding of the impact of trauma is central to effective service delivery and make operational decisions accordingly.”
The embodiment of this commitment at TIO became crystal clear to me when my dad was navigating his end-of-life care and we were unsure how much time he had with us Earthside. I was a project lead on a few things that had the potential for a big impact on community partners. I was stressing about how to plan dates with the potential for things needing to change so I could be present for my family. Our Director, Mandy, was in a community training space with me when I tried to answer a question about a project completion date. After I gave an estimation, she gently added something to the effect of, “unless you need to be elsewhere.”
Our Director, in front of our community partners, was making it very clear to me that the most important priority during this time was not actually the project timelines. In that moment, without oversharing or being unprofessional, I was able to be transparent with our partners about my “personal matter” and was honest that my completion date may change. And, it did.
What is more noteworthy about this process is that, because my workplace intimately understands how trauma and stress impacts our ability to do the work, our operational decisions actually do adjust accordingly. This is not always easy. In the context of my job duties, this meant a curriculum update and a Training of Trainers was pushed back several months and I had to communicate this to people to whom I had promised differently.
However, what this meant in the context of my personal life was that I was able to be at the bedside of my father for much of the last six months of his life. I was able to share stories, record memories, and make it possible for him to see his dog play on the beach one last time. I was able to show up with my full self in his last days without worrying about work at all. Instead of adding another traumatic event to my lived experiences, I actually feel proud and inspired about how we were able to navigate saying goodbye. We even had fidget toys at his Celebration of Life, inspired by the way we facilitate trauma-informed training at TIO.
I believe if we collectively held a new professional standard that factored in “the personal” while making operational decisions, it could make the world a much more bearable place. Imagine if all organizations were able to adjust accordingly when life is proving extra difficult for its employees. Truly prioritizing the wellbeing of the workforce without shame or unnecessary added stress isn’t without its challenging impacts, but adjusting timelines and expectations buffered my mental health in a time in which I certainly needed it.