So, what might traumatic material look like?

Typically, gruesome, violent, sexually exploitative media are distressing, but…

What’s distressing to me, may not be to you

And, it is important to note, that what is distressing now, may not have been distressing before, and may not be distressing in the future.

You are not immune, despite your experience. You may have worked in conflict zones, or engaged in objectionable material online as part of counter terrorism investigations, warfighting or law enforcement work. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean you are immune to secondary trauma absorption.

As part of this module, we would like to think about the following questions and discuss with your team, or alternatively write down responses to the following questions

• When in the course of your work have you been exposed to distressing media - did that media have an impact on you?
• What are your observations about how other people handle exposure to distressing media?