Workplace Trauma Counts: When Work Leaves a Lasting Mark
How many times have you minimized your own experience?
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Other people have been through worse.”
“I should be over it by now.”
“It doesn’t really count.”
In this episode of Please Mute Your Trauma, Tiffany Collins explores why so many people instinctively dismiss the experiences that have shaped them—and why workplace trauma is not always defined by the size or drama of a single event.
Sometimes what stays with us is not only what happened.
It is what the experience taught our nervous system to expect.
Through personal stories from the military, human resources, leadership, and her own life, Tiffany examines how seemingly small interactions can create lasting lessons about safety, authority, trust, belonging, and self-worth.
From a question involving a service dog to finding herself hiding from an unpredictable leader years later, Tiffany reflects on how past experiences can continue shaping the way we think, communicate, lead, connect, and respond at work.
This is not an episode about remaining trapped in the past.
It is about recognizing the invisible lessons we may still be carrying—and asking whether those lessons are still true.
In This Episode
- Why people minimize their own trauma and workplace experiences
- What workplace trauma can look like beyond a single catastrophic event
- How the nervous system learns from repeated experiences
- Why certain leaders, conversations, or workplace situations trigger strong reactions
- How past experiences shape trust, communication, and psychological safety
- The connection between trauma, dignity, leadership, and employee well-being
- Why understanding a response is different from allowing it to control you
- How to begin questioning the lessons an unsafe environment taught you
This episode is for anyone who has questioned their own reactions, felt themselves becoming smaller around certain people, or wondered why a workplace experience stayed with them long after the moment ended.
Your experience does not have to look dramatic from the outside to leave a lasting mark.
And the goal is not simply to decide whether it “counts.”
The more useful question may be:
What did it teach you—and is that lesson still protecting you now?
Reflection Question
What experience have you minimized because someone else appeared to have it worse?
And what did that experience teach you about yourself, other people, or what you should expect at work?
If you have ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of meaningful support, or been told to “bring your whole self to work” only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, you belong in this conversation.
Please Mute Your Trauma explores workplace trauma, psychological safety, dignity at work, meaningful work, and employee well-being through humor, research, and honest workplace stories.
Explore more episodes and resources at:
PleaseMuteYourTrauma.com
Have a workplace story, question, or random Wednesday thought? Leave Tiffany a message at:
888-629-5081
Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.
We want to hear from you!
Support the show
If you have ever sat through a meeting wondering whether anyone was listening, received a pizza party instead of meaningful support, or been told to “bring your whole self to work” only to discover there were terms and conditions attached, you belong in this conversation.
Please Mute Your Trauma explores workplace trauma, psychological safety, dignity at work, meaningful work, and employee well-being through humor, research, and honest workplace stories.
Explore more episodes and resources at:
PleaseMuteYourTrauma.com
Have a workplace story, question, or random Wednesday thought? Leave Tiffany a message at:
888-629-5081
Because work becomes meaningful when dignity is protected.
