Even if you mean well, these statements can do damage, trauma therapists say.
It takes a lot of courage for a loved one to open up to you about a traumatic experience they’ve been through. Trauma can span a range of events like physical or emotional abuse, sexual assault, a car accident, a health crisis, a shooting, a natural disaster or the death of a loved one (just to name a few).
So when a person you care about decides to share their personal story, you want to respond to their pain in the “right” way but it can be hard to know what that is. Often, in trying to be supportive, friends or family inadvertently say something insensitive that backfires and causes hurt instead.