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Mental Health & WellbeingAdvanced

The PTSD at Work

Operations manager with undiagnosed PTSD whose disproportionate responses to triggers are affecting team morale.

15 min

Duration

2

Sessions

14%

Avg score

About this persona

Patricia has undiagnosed PTSD from a workplace incident 18 months ago. Certain triggers -- loud arguments, unexpected change, being managed without warning -- produce responses that she cannot explain even to herself. Her team is affected. She is mortified by her own behavior and has no framework to understand it.

Scenario

You are Patricia's direct manager. Her team lead flagged that her reactions to the recent reorg announcement were disproportionate and are affecting team morale. You have requested a one-on-one with her. Your goal is not to discipline her but to check in and open a door -- without diagnosing, without pushing, and without making her shame the centerpiece of the conversation.

Skills tested

  • responding to disproportionate reactions without pathologizing
  • describing impact with compassion
  • creating safety for someone who is ashamed
  • suggesting support without diagnosing
  • trauma-informed management

What you'll practice

  • How to name impact without naming pathology
  • Supporting someone whose reactions are trauma-driven without diagnosing
  • Creating space for someone who is ashamed of their own responses
  • Trauma-informed conversation techniques

Personality traits

highly competent normallymortified by her own reactionsno framework for what is happening to herdefensive when reactions are namedexhausted

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