Why I Do This Work
As a result, over time it became clear that unresolved trauma was a significant contributing factor to my female-identified clients’ health issues. Add to this the social stigma associated with many women’s health issues as well as the medical trauma that many women experience, and it becomes clear that psychotherapy can and should play an important role in women’s health.[3], [4]
Meanwhile, investment in women’s healthcare and research has been catastrophically inadequate.[5], [6] Society has yet to understand that investing in women’s health makes society as a whole healthier, not just women.
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It is my obligation to serve my clients as best I can. As long as I have expertise in the potent tool of EMDR therapy, I intend to use it to further women’s health, while raising awareness through research and writing that such work is possible and necessary.
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[1] For the most comprehensive analysis of the global dynamics of gender and violence I know of, see Valerie Hudson’s epic book, The First Political Order: How Sex Shapes Governance and National Security Worldwide, or watch my interview with her here.
[2] Special thanks to Karen Terk, former head nurse of the Dissociative Disorders and Trauma Unit at McLean Hospital, for being the first person I met to name these dynamics.
[4] For a potent critique of how the healthcare system has failed in the treatment of endometriosis, in particular, see Bleed: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care by Tracey Lindeman.
Throughout my mental health career, the majority of my clients have been women. There are a variety of reasons for this, including that women have far higher rates of trauma and sexual abuse. In addition, there are gendered responses to trauma. On average, as a group, men tend to take unhealed trauma out on other people in the form of violence, and, if caught, end up in the criminal justice system.[1] Meanwhile, women, on average, as a group, tend to take unhealed trauma out on themselves, in the form of chronic illness, chronic pain, and self-harming behaviors, often ending up in the hospital.[2]
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Men act-out; women act-in. Society has yet to acknowledge and address this fundamental difference.
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