Joy in the Midst of Trauma

Did you know that trauma can rob someone of their joy, energy, imagination, creativity, and overall wellbeing and contribute to feelings of confusion, shame, helplessness, hopelessness, and frustration? Trauma can be directly or indirectly experienced and result from a one-time event or from chronic traumatic exposure over time.

Because trauma is widespread, the likelihood of being impacted by it is almost certain for each one of us. Regardless of the type of trauma (e.g., abuse, violence, traumatic shock, or grief), these experiences can cause a host of emotional, social, behavioral, and physical health challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one example of a type of traumatic exposure. Times of crisis and uncertainty, like the pandemic, present people with a multitude of challenges and obstacles.

For instance, there is no doubt that the pandemic has inflicted direct and indirect trauma on millions of individuals across the globe. Within the workplace, the consequences associated with trauma exposure can result in increases in conflict, turnover, and a general sense of workplace dissatisfaction, which can hamstring an organization if unaddressed.

A promising way for leaders to address trauma in workplace settings is adopting a Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approach, which places leaders in a better position to understand the complexities of trauma and respond appropriately to the needs of the staff they supervise and manage, both through interpersonal and policy-based efforts. The adoption of TIC approaches can help provide employees with increased clarity, positive workplace connection, team cohesion, and opportunities to engage in effective forms of communication during this stressful pandemic and beyond.

As part of promoting an environment rooted in TIC practices, encouraging and enhancing hopeful thinking, empathy, self-compassion, optimism, gratitude, resilience, and joy are strongly suggested. Joy is the experience of delight that is derived from a person’s sense of well-being and contentment with their life.

Joyfulness confers cognitive, affective, social, and physiological benefits. However, traumatic experiences can undermine joyfulness and its diverse benefits. As such, interventions that enhance joyfulness are critical because they hold the potential to improve short- and long-term health outcomes for employers and employees alike.

If you are interested in learning more about the topics discussed in this article, Concordia now offers a Master of Arts degree in Human Services with an emphasis in trauma, resilience, and self-care strategies program. For more information about this program, please contact Dr. Jerrod Brown at jbrown3@csp.edu.

Key take-away points pertaining to the topic of joy:

• Happiness is an emotion dictated by immediate circumstances while joy is an innate, longer-lasting attitude that a person can choose.

• The ability to unburden oneself from thoughts based in anxiety and rumination is critical in harvesting joyfulness.

• Knowing who you are and what you truly enjoy are critical in achieving joyfulness.

• Joy is linked to positive outcome measures for both the body (e.g., cardiovascular and immune systems) and the mind (e.g., mental health).

• In workplace settings, joy predicts increased productivity and lower rates of employee burnout.

• Joyful people are better able to manage and resolve the challenges of life and can promote resilience and optimism.

• The practice of empathy for others and selfcompassion are both predictors of joyfulness.

• Healthy habits like maintaining a normal sleep pattern, balanced diet, regular exercise, and not smoking are predictors of joyfulness.

• Joyfulness can be improved by regularly taking time to practice self-reflection (e.g., journaling) and gratitude.

Story: Jerrod Brown, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., M.S., M.S., Assistant Professor, Program Director, Master of Arts degree in Human Services with an emphasis in forensic behavioral health and a second emphasis area in trauma, resilience, and self-care strategies at Concordia University, St. Paul

Photo: Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash