Why should I trust you?

So I'm often asked by veterans,

"Why should I trust you?

You have not been in a combat situation.

You have not experienced what I experienced."

And what I say to them is,

"You're absolutely right that I have not

experienced the same things that you have,"

and the same is true with other

sorts of trauma survivors that I've worked with

who've experienced things that

I have not experienced.

However, one of the important things

that happens in therapy is that a

trusting working relationship develops.

And even though we haven't necessarily

experienced the exact same things, we learn

to have mutual trust and we are working

on resolving the PTSD together.