Tending to Storyteller Vicarious Trauma with Michelle Vande Hay

Tending to Storyteller Vicarious Trauma with Michelle Vande Hay

From When Bearing Witness®: Becoming a Trauma-Informed Storyteller by Maria Bryan

October 21, 2025 · 23 min · Season 2 · Episode 46

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of vicarious trauma on storytellers in the nonprofit sector and the importance of emotional self-care.

Send us Fan Mail Content Warning: Michelle briefly talks about the death of a loved one. Be mindful of your emotional capacity as you listen in. Storytelling in the nonprofit world is a powerful act of witness, but it can also take a quiet toll. When we listen to story after story of grief, injustice, or survival, our bodies absorb more than we realize. This is vicarious trauma, the invisible weight that settles in when we hold space for other people’s pain without tending to our ...

People in this episode

Host: Maria Bryan

Guest: Michelle Vande Hay

Topics covered

  • vicarious trauma
  • storytelling
  • nonprofit
  • emotional capacity
  • grief
  • pain

Keywords

  • vicarious trauma
  • storytelling
  • nonprofit
  • grief
  • emotional health
  • pain
  • witness

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