The Trauma Hiding in Plain Sight: Workplace Bullying, Treatment Considerations, and a Case Example of Recovery as Seen Through the Structure of the Expressive Therapies Continuum

November 07, 2025 / 7:15-9:15 AM Pacific Time

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Workplace bullying is relational violence and psychological terrorism

Targets of workplace bullying often seek therapy, yet therapists aren’t trained to understand the nuances of treating this kind of trauma

Learn how to help targets of workplace bullying and see a case example of recovery through the lens of the Expressive Therapies Continuum’s levels and components

This isn’t trauma treatment as usual

You’ve seen it before—a client comes to you in distress about what’s going on at work.  They’re up against a truly mean person, and you do your best to be supportive with trauma treatment and conflict management-type suggestions.  The client meets the criteria for a PTSD diagnosis…yet they’re not really post anything because the situation is ongoing, and you don’t know what to do.            

You wish you knew how to help people better than the way you were helped

You know how to treat anxiety, depression, and trauma day in and day out.  But clients in toxic work situations leave you hoping for resources that go beyond the ones you were given when you were the person getting beaten up on the job.

You’d go online and look for those resources if only you knew what to call them other than “resources for dealing with a problem person at work”.  Still, your gut tells you there has to be something better out there.

           

I can help you understand the nuances of treating the trauma of workplace bullying

My name is Megan, and I help people understand the hidden trauma of workplace bullying.  I was on the receiving end of it once myself, and I started volunteering with the National Workplace Bullying Coalition after I realized that “workplace bullying” is the name for what I went through.

I’m happy to share what I’ve learned with other therapists so they can help the clients who come to them due to work-related relational violence and psychological terrorism, and I even share images from my own recovery experience to help illustrate the process of integration.  I use the structure of the Expressive Therapies Continuum, a nervous system-oriented framework, to highlight my journey through physical, emotional, and intellectual synthesis as a means of offering hope for therapists who are treating targets of workplace bullying—and may be targets of workplace bullying themselves.    

Level up your approach to providing trauma treatment for people who are targets of workplace bullying

Do you want better skills for treating targets of work-related relational violence and psychological terrorism?  Join me for a two-hour webinar that will leave you with the language to describe the traumatic phenomenon of workplace bullying and the resources to guide what you do with targets who come to you for help.

This trauma hides in plain sight through the normalization of aggression and power imbalances even at lateral levels.  It’s more common than the mental health profession has acknowledged—and learning how to appropriately support the workplace bullying targets in your care will help you support your bullied colleagues as well.     

Learning Objectives: Attendees will be able to

  • define workplace bullying and differentiate it from harassment.

  • describe the characteristics of at least three (3) key players involved in workplace bullying.

  • explain at least three (3) tactics of workplace bullying.

  • identify at least three (3) actions mental health professionals can take to stand against workplace bullying.

  • list at least three (3) resources for supporting targets, bullies, and/or therapists who work with them.

  • name at least three (3) considerations for addressing workplace bullying in trauma treatment.

  • specify the types of information processing associated with each of the Expressive Therapies Continuum’s three (3) levels.

Investment: $55.00 USD

CE Hours: 2.0 hours for this live event

logo for National Board for Certified Counselors, Approved Continuing Education Provider

Megan VanMeter PLLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7793. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Megan VanMeter PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

 Do you feel helpless when providing trauma treatment to clients who are helpless in the face of work-related aggression and power imbalance?

 
creatively painted wooden figure, representing a target of workplace bullying—targets often have creative ideas, which threatens bullies and their status-quo mentality
 

 Hope to see you there!

More information about the webinar

Got questions?

or write us at Megan VanMeter PLLC, 186 E Sheldon St #1138, Prescott AZ 86301, USA

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