Child or trauma-holding parts can get triggered at work because work environments can resemble childhood dynamics. At work, there are rules and authority figures with the power to affect your life or punish you. There may be expectations about your performance. If you have a supervisor who is unpredictable, critical, controlling, abusive, or unsafe, your nervous system may respond to this as it did when you were a child and it needed to protect you. These experiences can resemble earlier situations where those parts felt unsafe, powerless, ashamed, ignored, or responsible for preventing harm. Even when a manager has never been unsafe, your system may still watch for expressions or tones of voice that indicate danger, remaining on alert.
This page is part of the DID and Work section of the CommuniDID site, which explains how switching, internal disagreement, and variable capacity influence work life and explores options for disclosure, accommodations, and navigating workplace challenges safely.
Explore more:
- Questions about DID and Work
- Finding the Right Work Accommodations for You is a free PDF you can download to identify which accommodations may help you at work.
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