One time, I was telling my pdoc about my childhood. (If you are interested in the details, read it in the extreme venting forum.) When I got assaulted, that was a trauma. He told me however, I also was the victim of what he called secondary trauma. That occurred when I tried to reach out for help to my mother, and she refused to believe me. That rejection made it so I was afraid to reach out to anyone else for help again.

Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them? How did you deal with it? Were you able to go to another person and try to get help?

Hmmmm...I'm not sure TH. The only kind of Secondary Trauma aka Vicarious Trauma that I experienced refers to those people who care for, or are involved with, those who have been directly traumatized. For example when I was caring for my son after his abuse, the images and strong emotions that he was experiencing were sort of passed on to me eventhough I wasn't the one that was directly abused.

Lace

(((TH))), The first time i was molested by a man in the neighborhood i went home and told my mom. I was 5 at the time and really didn't know what had happened, only that something was wrong. She was angry with me for going to his house and she told me that "only bad girls go into old mens houses". She sent me to my room without supper. I was not allowed out until morning for the restroom and had to spend that day in my room also. My T says that is part of the reason I could not tell anyone what was happening when my stepuncle molested and raped me over a 10 year period. I was never able to turn to anyone for help.