![[Synchrony]](graphics/synchrony.gif)
Even within the anonymity which can be provided by the internet, the survivor / therapist who ventures into a therapists' forum while still acknowledging both roles, may need to cope with the prejudice of a profession which, in my experience, still often tends to stigmatize the mental health clients who are its very bread and butter. The seemingly commonly held assumption in so much professional literature, that those who are therapists and those who are trauma survivors & clients are somehow mutually exclusive groups, is indicative of psychotherapy's inability to realize the strength inherent in acknowledging our own woundedness.
Conversely, the wounded healer who enters a survivor support community may need to keep their therapist's hat well hidden if they hope to develop egalitarian relationships of mutual support. Attempting to wear both hats may invite some understandably strong reactions from other survivors. Many psychotherapy clients (myself included) have at some time experienced exploitation and abuse in the guise of therapy (See for eg 3). Within the void created by cyberspace, perceptions are highly subject to stereotypes, and both transference and countertransference reactions can run rampant. Survivors who may be more likely to idealize a therapist's role as one of a potential rescuer, may also tend to project this upon the survivor therapist who has not kept their professional role a secret. The survivor /therapist may then find her or himself working overtime in trying to fulfill expectations of providing help, while feeling unable to request support themselves around their own issues of primary and secondary trauma. Professional burnout or "compassion fatigue" can too easily result from our stoic denial of our own needs. However, the wounded healer who is able to allow their vulnerability greater freedom of expression, (trusting disclosure to the possibility of online anonymity), may find that the sense of safety which may be enjoyed by most online survivors can be seriously compromised by the need to carefully protect professional boundaries.
This site was created on Mothers' Day, 2000. If you would like to contribute to the evolution of its design and content over time, please email me at:
![[email gif]](graphics/mailanm3.gif){kind=small}