Healing from trauma

Virtue signalling. Microaggression. Radical honesty. Generational trauma.

These are terms mentioned during a virtual seminar I attended today. The speaker, Dr Devon Lee, talked about healing from trauma by (if I understand his presentation properly) addressing these four concepts, among others. Two colleagues who are children of immigrants—one was born in the USA and the other born overseas but immigrated as a preschooler—kept nodding their heads in affirmation as Dr Lee got the virtual audience to participate in the discussion. Honestly, I was just lost in the discussion because I grew up in a different context: I come from a culture in which thriving in adverse conditions is the norm, merits are given where merits are due, and strong family and friendly ties provide moral support and sounding boards that people need to decompress.

So here's my attempt at dissecting the topic.

Based on how I understand Dr Lee's presentation, an organisation has to provide the space for its employees to deal with their mental trauma so that they can focus on their jobs. It gave me the impression that the organisation is obligated to take responsibility for its employees' well-being, beyond work-related interpersonal relationship challenges (e.g., work-related conflict, harassment, discrimination). Individuals within the organisation have to be so politically correct that they are radically honest, do not display microaggression, and do not signal virtue. They are on their way to becoming JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) masters.

Since I didn't understand the jargon (I'm probably just not read into Sociology terms), I decided to research them after work... Thank you, Wikipedia!

Virtue signalling is a person's attempt to show that he/she is a good person. It is excessive, giving the person's audience the impression that the person is insincere. Virtue signalling is particularly rampant on social media platforms in which the content creator's posts make him/her appear to be more socially acceptable. Perhaps, individuals who portray themselves or their spouses or partners as living perfect lives on social media can be counted here.

Microaggressions are intentional or unintentional expressions of derogatory terms against stigmatised members of society. Racial slurs and stereotype comments are included here. Examples include assuming that Asians living in the USA are all top performers in school; Asians are generally timid and obedient; services can be deprioritised for Asian patrons. 

Radical honesty is about complete honesty as a means of improving engagement with others, reducing stress, and preventing conflicts. This radically different practice excludes the use of white lies.

Generational trauma is the adverse psychological effect felt by people of subsequent generations sharing a cultural identity with direct victims of terrible events (e.g., Atlantic slave trade, child abuse).

I honestly felt like I was in an evangelical worship service where the minister or pastor delivered The Message, making the Word of God applicable in the congregation's daily life. The ministers I've listened to loved to use abstractions and metaphors that I end up not understanding how The Message translated in my daily life. I've seen members of the congregation whip out notebooks and pens, and write down key points from the ministers' talk as if they are in a class.