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Emotional responses to potentially traumatic events:An interpretative qualitative analysis of high-risk professionals in relation to their social structures
No full textBackgroundProfessionals in emergency-focused environments are taught to prioritize emergencies over their own emotions and trained to suppress their own emotional reactions. High-risk professionals in a vertical social structure, such as police officers, military personnel, career firefighters, and perioperative nurses, also tend to develop an us-versus-them mentality with emotional distance from patients or civilians.ObjectiveThis study explores emotional reactions of police officers, military personnel, firefighters, paramedics, and specialized nurses (emergency room nurses, operating room nurses, and intensive care nurses) to past and present potentially traumatic events. We aim to understand how a social environment that reinforces suppression of emotional reactions and fosters emotional distance from patients and civilians influences their emotional responses.MethodologyWe analyzed fieldnotes from ethnographical research, encompassing 332 h of observations and 71 in-depth interviews with professionals from eight occupational groups. We identified meaning units that were interpreted through the lens of literature on etiology and treatment of trauma-related mental health problems.FindingsHigh-risk professionals in a vertical social structure experience unexpected moments of identification with victims or patients, which leads to personal distress and has lasting emotional impact. For those in horizontal social structures, such as paramedics and specialized nurses, we did not observe these sudden, intense emotional reactions. Instead, they seem to experience increased emotionality and exhaustion over the course of their careers.ConclusionWhile emotional distancing may be functional during emergencies, it likely increases the risk of traumatization. This risk is amplified when ingrained during early socialization
“Ze is nooit weg uit mijn leven, ook al is ze er niet meer”:Een persoonlijk verhaal over partnerverlies en veerkracht als proces
No full text"I Chose to Put my Ego in the Closet for a while, but Struggled to Find It Again”:Backstage Reflections on Participatory Action Research and Resilience
No full text‘Unwelcome truths’ are central to the empowerment and transformation aims of Participatory Action Research (PAR). They confront dominant narratives, challenge power relations, and reveal hidden structures of influence. At the same time, creating communicative spaces in which unwelcome truths can surface is rarely straightforward. Researchers play a key role in creating these spaces and face several challenges. These include ethical responsibilities, power imbalances, emotional and psychological barriers, and external pressures such as time limits and institutional demands. Researchers’ responses to these challenges are shaped by their methodological choices and positionality. These two factors directly influence how communicative spaces are created and sustained. Nevertheless, reflexive accounts of researchers’ methodological choices and positionality in PAR remain scarce in the literature. This scarcity limits accountability, transparency, and learning, which are principles integral to PAR. In this article we therefore present a behind-the-scenes account of a Dutch PAR project on resilience and experiences of loss. We draw on Goffman’s frontstage/backstage metaphor to examine the tension between public accounts of PAR and unpublished realities that are often personal, complex, and morally challenging. On the frontstage, we analyse how communicative spaces were created in meetings with co-researchers and the difficulties this process entailed. Backstage, we examine methodological challenges and the complex positionality of researchers. We explore these issues in greater depth using the validity claims from Habermas’s theory of communicative action. This provides a useful lens for analysing how unifying factors can emerge in communicative spaces despite the challenges faced. Finally, we conclude by considering the value of PAR for resilience research and how insights from this project may inform future studies
Case Report:Multi-modal motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation for traumatic grief (3MDR-TG)
No full textThe loss of a loved one under traumatic circumstances puts bereaved individuals at risk of developing prolonged grief disorder (PGD), (symptoms of) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD), also referred to as traumatic grief. Traumatic grief is often associated with high symptom levels and strong avoidance. Not all patients benefit from standard treatments. Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation (3MDR) has shown to be effective in the treatment of treatment-resistant PTSD. The development of a 3MDR protocol specifically for Traumatic Grief protocol (3MDR-TG) enables grief-focused exposure in an immersive, personalized and activating context
Michelangelo, Neoplatonism and the Idealised Body
No full textPublication accompanying the exhibition at Teylers Museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands, from 15 October 2025 to 25 January 2026
