As a therapist, I've witnessed something alarming over the past few years. What I'm seeing in my office tells a story that many people don't realize is happening across workplaces everywhere.

The Rise I'm Seeing in My Practice

"Most of my clients, it's functioning," I tell people when they ask what brings clients to my door. "Because they put off usually going to therapy until their functioning is inhibited."

But here's what's really caught my attention: "I've seen in the past couple of years a huge rise—and probably due to COVID and all of the ups and downs with occupational issues and shifts and things—honestly, a huge rise in workplace trauma."

This isn't just my observation. The research backs this up, and what I'm hearing from clients paints a clear picture of a mental health crisis hiding in plain sight.

What Workplace Trauma Actually Looks Like

"From where I'm standing, a lot of the time it's these obstacles of: 'I'm needing to be able to keep this job. I'm needing to be able to actually do what I'm hired to do. And I'm having trouble holding boundaries. I'm having trouble with work-life balance of any kind. And it's robbing me of my ability to have life satisfaction.'"

When clients come to me, they describe feeling "stuck between a rock and a hard place." They need their jobs, but their work environment is affecting every aspect of their lives.

The Math That Should Alarm All of Us

Here's something people don't think about: "It's a huge chunk. I think people don't think about that—the majority of the time that we spend throughout the week is at work."

Let that sink in. "So if our work environment isn't a healthy environment and usually the worker is not the one in charge of the environment because there's a power differential—the individual is not in control—it's usually the company or whoever you're working for that's in charge of the environment."

I often explain it this way to clients: "The worker is sort of like, if you wanted to look at it like a family, mom and dad are in charge of the home environment and the kids are the byproduct of whatever the environment at home is usually."

COVID Changed Everything

The pandemic didn't just disrupt where we worked—it fundamentally changed how we cope with work stress.

"With COVID, a lot of people working from home and then going back into the office or having a hybrid situation for the first time, people were really struggling with that shift. And we saw obviously a huge increase in clientele during that time."

But here's the part many people missed: "What people really didn't realize is that COVID also took away a lot of their coping. So the strategies that they would usually use for coping—going out with friends and connecting and going to a baseball game or a concert or whatever to be able to unwind—they no longer had those options."

The result? "Now we're seeing people go back out into the workforce and be able to go out again, which is great, but we also have not been used to that for a couple of years. And so the stress that builds with that can halt people in their tracks. It really can, because it's definitely different going into an office versus being at home."

Why HR Isn't the Answer

One of the most important conversations I have with clients is about workplace resources—or the lack thereof.

"I do have that conversation with a lot of people that have tried to reach out to their HR representative or have tried that route. And I think that's part of where the frustration comes from for a lot of people—they vocalized it or they felt like they have vocalized it to a supervisor or they've tried to vocalize it to HR, and then they have negative consequences that arise from that."

The reality is that HR departments aren't designed to be your mental health support system. They're there to protect the company, not necessarily to protect your wellbeing.

The Therapy Alternative

This is where therapy becomes crucial. "I think that's part of the huge frustration and why some people reach out to someone like me—to actually have that be safe and protected so that they can go over how they'd like to handle it and the emotions that come from the trauma response of it all."

In therapy, "they can process it in a safe way so that when they are taking it to HR, if they want to, then it's this moment of: 'I am regulated, I am able to stay regulated, I am able to communicate my needs effectively.' And because I'm able to stay regulated in doing so, there's sometimes a better response to that."

What Workplace Trauma Actually Costs

The impact extends far beyond individual suffering. When I work with clients dealing with workplace stress, I see how it affects:

Their ability to maintain relationships at home
Their physical health (the stress manifests in real, measurable ways)
Their sense of self-worth and professional identity
Their capacity to set healthy boundaries
Their overall life satisfaction

A Safe Place to Process

"They need a place to process that openly that they're not worried about any sort of pushback, to practice the skills that we talk about in therapy in a safe place so that when they go out into the world, they're able to then practice on what I consider to be a much harder audience."

That's what therapy provides—a training ground. "Those of us in our personal lives, the people we love the most, supervisors at work—there's lots of different relationships that usually are needing to have a little bit of a shift, and that's usually why they're in my office in the first place. Therapy is a great training ground."

Moving Forward

If you're reading this and thinking, "This sounds like my experience," you're not alone. Workplace trauma is real, it's widespread, and it's treatable. The first step is recognizing that your work environment's impact on your mental health is valid and worthy of attention.

Remember: just because something is common doesn't mean it's normal or something you have to accept.

If you're struggling with workplace trauma and need a safe space to process your experiences, I'm here to help. At Arise Counseling Services, I work with individuals to develop healthy coping strategies and communication skills that protect your mental health while helping you navigate challenging work environments.

Workplace Trauma is Rising: A Therapist's Perspective on the Hidden Crisis