Episode 81: Trauma & Mental Health in the Workplace
‘Being a human is messy; serving humanity is messier.’ These are the words of Dimple Dhabalia, our guest on today’s episode and founder of Roots in the Clouds (RITC). Dimple’s career started in Denver where she worked on abuse and neglect cases within the Department of Human Services.
Story after story, testimony after testimony began to take a toll on our guest. A phrase that came to her over and again was the phrase, vicarious trauma. This is defined as an occupational challenge for people working and volunteering in the fields of victim services, law enforcement, emergency medical services, fire services, and other allied professions, due to their continuous exposure to victims of trauma and violence by the Office for Victims of Crime.
The hardships of those Dimple was helping, also created hardships in her own life as well. In our society today, mental health is a rising issue and a topic not covered enough. Many deal with mental health concerns, but feel as if they have no one to talk to, or a lack of understanding of the help that is available to them. Of that many, Dimple was one of them, so she decided to bring awareness to health and well-being in the workplace.
Her story took off when she recognized that many ‘solutions’ to the mental health problem, especially in the workplace, revolved around an individual and their own efforts. She felt as if organizations needed a deeper look at each person in order to help them effectively.
Dimple is the author of Tell Me My Story – Challenging the Narrative of Service Before Self. A book written to ‘help the helpers’ as one reviewer writes, Dimple’s story is written from the perspective of a leader in the humanitarian field that addresses the issues of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. In alignment with her book (and previously mentioned), she is the founder of RITC.
An organization that seeks to illustrate this thought: Imagine what might be possible if you could serve others without sacrificing your own mental health and well-being in the process. Examples of Mission Driven Occupational Trauma The most common term recognized when it comes to occupational trauma is burnout.
Unfortunately, many other occupational trauma terms also get lumped together under the ‘burnout umbrella’. Dimple shares that burnout is a very specific type of occupational trauma. She defines it as, ‘a prolonged physical and psychological exhaustion that is specifically related to the work that individuals do.’
Although burnout is very real and in nearly every industry, Dimple likes to also focus on the areas that are specific to humanitarian work. Or those in the business of alleviating pain and suffering in the world. On top of burnout, these folks can also experience vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress.
The two terms, used interchangeably, can have very diverse meanings. We mentioned vicarious trauma previously, and it’s important to understand that it is built up and happens over time. Secondary traumatic stress on the other hand, can occur from a single incident. Another example is compassion fatigue.
Finally, moral injury is the result of when an individual's values don’t align with the organization’s values. Or an individual may be asked to go against their own deeply held morals and beliefs. Something Dimple says is very prominent in the world and culture today.
If you enjoyed Dimple & Tosha’s conversation be sure to look at Dimple’s website, Roots in the Clouds (RITC) or her book releasing in February of 2024, Tell Me My Story – Challenging the Narrative of Service Before Self. Please be sure to engage with the interview. Whether you enjoy listening to it, reading about it, or watching us on YouTube, make sure you review, share, and engage with A Modern Nonprofit Podcast. You can find Tosha and the Charity CFO team on Youtube or our website, thecharitycfo.com!
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