Vicarious trauma occurs when you directly witness a traumatic event happen to another person or receive firsthand accounts of a traumatic situation that occurred to someone else. Trauma therapy for men in Milwaukee, WI can help you recover from not only directly witnessing a traumatic experience but also from vicarious trauma.
What Is Vicarious Trauma and Who Does It Affect?
Vicarious trauma, as mentioned above, occurs when somebody witnesses a traumatic event that does not directly happen to them. These experiences in and of themselves contain large amounts of stress as well as visceral responses within the body that can create trauma symptoms down the road. Groups of people who commonly experience vicarious forms of trauma include military members, first responders, nursing and healthcare professionals, and even the general population in terms of witnessing a car accident, a fall, or learning of a horrific event that occurred to a family member.
You Didn’t Experience It Directly — So Why Are You Still Carrying It?
Vicarious trauma is insidious because the traumatic experience didn’t happen to you; however, you end up carrying some of the lingering trauma symptoms. Thoughts around “it wasn’t that bad for me,” “I shouldn’t be feeling this way,” and “I should be able to get over it,” can keep you stuck in a vicious cycle. Over time, these vicarious trauma symptoms can then impact your relationships with others, your quality of sleep, your ambition and energy levels, and reduce your overall quality of life.
How Vicarious Trauma Differs from Direct Trauma
Vicarious trauma differs from that of regular trauma or direct trauma because of the distance between you and the event. Men in the United States have difficulty asking for support and help with healing, even when something directly impacts them. This is much more complicated when a man experiences vicarious forms of trauma because even though it didn’t happen to him, he may hold these residual trauma symptoms in his body.
How Does Vicarious Trauma Actually Show Up in a Man’s Daily Life?
Men may believe they are not experiencing traumatic symptoms because the situation didn’t directly impact them. However, vicarious trauma symptoms can impact how you relate to your coworkers, your spouse, and even your children. Vicarious trauma can impact your general sense of safety in this world, which can result in restlessness and hypervigilance. When vicarious trauma is experienced repeatedly, for example, with first responders, emotional detachment and numbness can become present in your life. This impacts your sense of self as well as relationships with those you care about.
In American society, men are conditioned to keep pushing forward and not talk about their internal struggles. This often results in significant emotional disconnection and emotional suppression over time. So, when a man experiences vicarious trauma symptoms, they may not open up or may only discuss their experiences with a small number of people who share a similar understanding.
How Is Trauma Therapy Different from Standard Talk Therapy for Vicarious Trauma?
Trauma therapy is not the same as talk therapy. It’s different in that it focuses on either one event or a series of events that have led to trauma symptoms appearing in a man’s life. Trauma therapy can directly target vicarious trauma incidents as well. Trauma therapy often starts with creating safety in the body and nervous system regulation so that in future sessions, past traumatic experiences can become fully processed and integrated, which decreases trauma symptoms.
What Does Healing from Vicarious Trauma Actually Look Like?
Healing from vicarious trauma incidents can look similar to healing from trauma experiences in and of themselves. What we find by working with men who’ve experienced trauma and/or vicarious trauma is that their hypervigilance can be reduced, their internal restlessness can be calmed, and they can be present in both their day-to-day activities and their one-on-one conversations with their partners and their children. Sleep disruption is also a common vicarious trauma symptom that can persist long after the witnessed event.
Vicarious Trauma Is Real and So Is Your Healing
If you’re a man and you’ve witnessed overwhelming events or have had to help people in life-threatening emergencies, you may experience vicarious trauma fallout. Utilizing natural resources throughout the Southeastern Wisconsin area can help you stay regulated and present in your day-to-day life. For example, taking walks in Whitnall Park near Hales Corners can help you both get exercise and spend time in nature.
Muskego Lakes Country Club can be a great place to connect with friends while playing a competitive game of golf. You could also spend your day at Grant Park Beach near South Milwaukee, rejuvenating by the water with your family. Lastly, you can spend the day exploring the Richard Bong State Recreation Area outside of Burlington, Wisconsin, to help manage emotions. Your healing from vicarious trauma is directly correlated with the quality of your life.
How Do You Find the Right Trauma Therapist for Vicarious Trauma in Milwaukee?
Finding trauma therapy for vicarious trauma in Milwaukee, WI, begins with a simple online search. Many different therapists will show up in your search engine, which can be very overwhelming. You’ll want to look for a trauma therapist with specific training in trauma therapy and experience working with vicarious trauma.
I have found that in-person sessions at Revitalize Mental Health’s Kenosha, Wisconsin, work well for men who live throughout the Salem Lakes, Waterford, West Bend, Franklin, and Somers, Wisconsin areas. Online trauma therapy is also available and is very effective in helping you heal from both traumatic experiences and vicarious trauma.
Stop Carrying What You Witnessed and Start Healing with Trauma Therapy in Milwaukee WI
You didn’t ask to witness what you saw. You didn’t choose to carry it. But your body absorbed it anyway and has been holding it ever since. Trauma therapy in Milwaukee, WI, gives men a space to finally put down the weight of what they witnessed — to stop minimizing it, stop pushing through it, and start actually healing from it. At Revitalize Mental Health, we understand that vicarious trauma is real, even when it doesn’t feel like it counts. It counts. And you deserve the same level of care as anyone who experienced it firsthand.
- Complete the online form or call 720.295.6703 to get started.
- Begin meeting with a compassionate trauma therapist through a free 15-minute consultation to see if we’re a good fit.
- Take the first step toward healing from what you witnessed and reclaim your peace today.
Additional Counseling Services Offered at Revitalize Mental Health
At Revitalize Mental Health, I understand that vicarious trauma rarely travels alone. The hypervigilance, the emotional detachment, the sleep disruption — these symptoms bleed into how you show up at work, how connected you feel to your family, and how safe you feel in the world around you. While this blog focuses on vicarious trauma and how trauma therapy helps men heal from what they witnessed, I also work with men navigating a range of challenges, including Anxiety, Panic, Mood Disorders, Grief and Loss, Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI), Schizophrenia, EMDR Trauma Therapy for First Responders and Military Personnel, and Men and Infidelity.
I frequently work with men who have been dismissing their own symptoms because they tell themselves it wasn’t bad enough to count. Sessions are collaborative and intentionally paced, using evidence-based approaches such as EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, CBT, and ACT, bottom-up therapies that help your body release what it has been holding and restore the sense of safety and connection that vicarious trauma has quietly eroded. I offer both in-person therapy in the Milwaukee area, as well as virtual therapy throughout Wisconsin and Colorado.
About the Author
I’m Daniel, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the founder of Revitalize Mental Health. I specialize in working with men who are carrying the weight of what they witnessed — men who were present for something overwhelming, who absorbed the impact of someone else’s trauma, and who have been quietly struggling ever since while telling themselves it shouldn’t affect them this much. I understand that vicarious trauma is one of the most minimized and misunderstood forms of trauma men experience. The fact that it didn’t happen directly to you does not make what you are carrying any less real or any less deserving of care.
My approach helps men identify and heal the vicarious trauma that has been quietly shaping their nervous system, their relationships, and their sense of safety in the world. As a certified EMDR therapist with advanced training in Somatic Experiencing, ACT, and CBT, I help men process what the body has absorbed from witnessing overwhelming events and rebuild a nervous system that no longer treats everyday life as a threat. The result is a man who can finally exhale — present, regulated, and no longer defined by what he witnessed.
