Concepts describing secondary trauma phenomena do not adequately capture the profound impact that collective catastrophic events can have on mental health professionals living and working in traumatogenic environments. Shared trauma, by contrast, contains aspects of primary and secondary trauma, and more accurately describes the extraordinary experiences of clinicians exposed to the same community trauma as their clients. Case vignettes from clinicians in Manhattan and Sderot, Israel are provided to illustrate the transformative changes that clinicians may undergo as a result of dual exposure to trauma. Discussion involves the importance of articulating one's own trauma narrative and attending to self-care prior to resuming clinical work, as well as opportunities for enhanced therapeutic intimacy and caution regarding boundary alterations that may result from clinician self-disclosure. Agency settings can provide the necessary education, supervision, and support to mitigate the negative effects of shared trauma.

The terms African American, people of African descent, and Black will be used interchangeably as reflected in the literature and colloquial usage.

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This qualitative study brings together the voices of parents and their representatives, including attorneys, social workers and parent advocates, to understand the lived experiences of child welfare involved parents as they navigate Family Court, and how to improve it. The findings suggest that these courts are difficult to navigate for both parents and their representatives, and are often experienced as punitive and unsupportive spaces. The findings also reveal a strong congruence between how parents and their advocates wish the courts to operate (and how they sometimes do), and the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence (TJ), which recognizes the emotional and psychological toll legal proceedings can take and suggests ways to minimize that harm. Parents' relationship with their judge and the judge's ability to understand and connect with them are identified as transformative factors in the courtroom. Key Points for the Family Court CommunityThe fast paced and often harsh environment populated with multiple actors make navigating the Family Court system challenging for both parents and their representatives.Contextual factors, such as trauma, and race and class bias multiply the often negative and anti-therapeutic effects of Family Court.Judges have a key role in mediating these contextual factors, and providing a supportive and therapeutic environment for adjudicating claims of child maltreatment Specific behaviors that exemplify TJ are identified, and suggestions made as to how they can be applied in the court room.