--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hearing directly from a person who has…" description: "\"“Hearing directly from a person who has been hurt in a profound way gives the listener a secondary trauma. When a Swedish colleague, Anders Svensson, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47a/ved-p-varma-47047_patience_hearing-directly-from-a-person-who-has-b_563482.jpg" --- # Hearing directly from a person who has been hurt in a… ![“Hearing directly from a person who has been hurt in a profound way gives the listener a secondary trauma. When a Swedish colleague, Anders Svensson, asked me to offer support and supervision (Sinason and Svensson 1994) it was because his patient, a severely learning-disabled patient, claimed she…” quote by Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47a/ved-p-varma-47047_patience_hearing-directly-from-a-person-who-has-b_563482.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47a/ved-p-varma-47047_patience_hearing-directly-from-a-person-who-has-b_563482.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47a/ved-p-varma-47047_patience_hearing-directly-from-a-person-who-has-b_563482.jpg) > ““Hearing directly from a person who has been hurt in a profound way gives the listener a secondary trauma. When a Swedish colleague, Anders Svensson, asked me to offer support and supervision (Sinason and Svensson 1994) it was because his patient, a severely learning-disabled patient, claimed she had been raped. As the therapy proceeded she began to provide details of rape, sadomasochistic activities, necrophilia, pornographic films, bestiality and, finally, the murder of a child. The police were called in and she was given extra security. Week by week a more harrowing tale evolved of night-time rituals, of men in masks, the drinking of blood and eating of faeces. It took me over eight months to find the term ‘ritual abuse’.”” [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Secondary trauma can arise when therapists hear graphic, disturbing client disclosures, leading to emotional distress. **In simple terms:** Listening to traumatic stories can cause therapist trauma. Key Takeaway Practice self‑care and supervision. Themes trauma professional boundaries ethics Mood cautious serious Type clinical educational When to use this quote - therapy sessions - support groups - training workshops Key Concepts secondary trauma vicarious trauma clinical supervision Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize signs of secondary trauma? - What coping strategies help maintain emotional health? A Different Perspective Therapists may become desensitized, reducing empathy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Rape Sadomasochistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rape-sadomasochistic-4666170/) [Raped Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/raped-therapy-4666168/) [Ritual Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual-abuse-349370/) [Trauma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trauma/) [Trauma Swedish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trauma-swedish-4666169/) ## Related quotes > [“Why do I take a blade and slash my arms? Why do I drink myself into a stupor? Why do I swallow bottles of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-jamieson/why-do-i-take-a-blade-and-slash-my-arms-why-do-i-drink-myself-into-a/) [Alice Jamieson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-jamieson/) > [“A cult is a group of people who share an obsessive devotion to a person or idea. 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Ten years ago many people found it difficult to believe that fathers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/ritualised-child-sexual-abuse-is-about-abuse-of-power-control-and/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) > [“Unlike many self-styled experts in the field of occult ritual abuse Sinason is no religious crusader. She emphasises in her introduction that "the number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-ivey/unlike-many-self-styled-experts-in-the-field-of-occult-ritual-abuse/) [Gavin Ivey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-ivey/) > [“In my client who had confessed her “alien abduction” experience, an alter had been instructed that if she began to remember the ritual abuse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-miller/in-my-client-who-had-confessed-her-alien-abduction-experience-an/) [Alison Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-miller/) > [“Speaking out about ritual abuse brings more information and potential understanding about this issue to a society steeped in denial. There are many similar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jadelinn/speaking-out-about-ritual-abuse-brings-more-information-and-potential/) [Jadelinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jadelinn/) > [“I was amazed, shocked, and sickened by what I heard throughout the day, over and over, by many victims' stories. I can think of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-l-bailey-jr/i-was-amazed-shocked-and-sickened-by-what-i-heard-throughout-the-day/) [Charles L. Bailey Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-l-bailey-jr/) > [“The government researchers, aware of the information in the professional journals, decided to reverse the process (of healing from hysteric dissociation). They decided to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-hersha/the-government-researchers-aware-of-the-information-in-the/) [Cheryl Hersha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-hersha/) > [“I'm just asking you to accept that there are some people who will go to extraordinary lengths to cover up the facts that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-matthew/i-m-just-asking-you-to-accept-that-there-are-some-people-who-will-go/) [Laurie Matthew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-matthew/) ## More by Ved P. Varma > [“Winnicott talks about how ‘mothers do in one way or another identify themselves with the baby growing within them, and in this way they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/winnicott-talks-about-how-mothers-do-in-one-way-or-another-identify/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“Some patients who are profoundly multiply disabled are incontinent, smear faeces, cut themselves, dribble, smell, spit, bite, eat mucous, pull their hair, poke their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/some-patients-who-are-profoundly-multiply-disabled-are-incontinent/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“Although there are areas of overlap between working with psychotic and borderline children and with severely deprived children, some of the stresses involved are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/although-there-are-areas-of-overlap-between-working-with-psychotic/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“Every therapist will, over the course of his career, encounter a patient whose problem sufficiently mirrors a difficulty for the therapist which is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/every-therapist-will-over-the-course-of-his-career-encounter-a/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“He came to believe that, in addition to getting rid of parts of the self, projective identification was sometimes the only way in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/he-came-to-believe-that-in-addition-to-getting-rid-of-parts-of-the/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“If, for example, it is the weak, defenceless, vulnerable part of the self which cannot be tolerated, than this will tend to be split…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/if-for-example-it-is-the-weak-defenceless-vulnerable-part-of-the-self/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) > [“They behave towards their therapists as they perceive themselves to have been treated by their absent parents. They make their therapists feel very fully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ved-p-varma/they-behave-towards-their-therapists-as-they-perceive-themselves-to/) [Ved P. Varma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) [Explore all 8 Ved P. Varma quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ved-p-varma/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Being nice is okay,but don't allow anybody to abuse it...try to fight for your self when you know your on the right way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-is-okay-but-don-t-allow-anybody-to-abuse-it-try-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. Be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-byers-ruch/build-a-bridge-over-shame-by-teaching-kids-about-sexual-abuse-give/) [Carolyn Byers Ruch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-byers-ruch/) > [It is sure that those are most desirous of honour or glory who cry out loudest of its abuse and the vanity of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/it-is-sure-that-those-are-most-desirous-of-honour-or-glory-who-cry/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [“The sole reason I stand to open it up now is that lots of people who are in pain just like I was, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-dsouza/the-sole-reason-i-stand-to-open-it-up-now-is-that-lots-of-people-who/) [Patricia Dsouza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-dsouza/) > [Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atifete-jahjaga/democracy-must-be-built-through-open-societies-that-share-information/) [Atifete Jahjaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atifete-jahjaga/) > [I have a theory that all abuse, no matter what kind of abuse it is, is foremost an assault on the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-westover/i-have-a-theory-that-all-abuse-no-matter-what-kind-of-abuse-it-is-is/) [Tara Westover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-westover/) > [“Blaming therapy, social work and other caring professions for the confabulation of testimony of 'satanic ritual abuse' legitimated a programme of political and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/blaming-therapy-social-work-and-other-caring-professions-for-the/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [Finally, the scariest thing about abuse of any shape or form, is, in my opinion, not the abuse itself, but that if it continues…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cumming/finally-the-scariest-thing-about-abuse-of-any-shape-or-form-is-in-my/) [Alan Cumming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-cumming/) > [“Research on organised abuse emphasises the diversity of organised abuse cases, and the ways in which serious forms of child maltreatment cluster in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-salter/research-on-organised-abuse-emphasises-the-diversity-of-organised/) [Michael Salter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-salter/) > [“Stand up for yourself. Never give any one permission to abuse you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/stand-up-for-yourself-never-give-any-one-permission-to-abuse-you/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [All governments should be pressured to correct their abuses of human rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-stallman/all-governments-should-be-pressured-to-correct-their-abuses-of-human/) [Richard Stallman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-stallman/) > [“Words are free. It does not mean you should abuse them. Be kind with them. They will mirror your actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/words-are-free-it-does-not-mean-you-should-abuse-them-be-kind-with/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) [Browse all 3,113 Abuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Hearing directly from a person who has been hurt in a profound way gives the listener a secondary trauma. 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