Therapists' Shared Traumatic Reality During War: Personal, Professional and Growth Factors

ABSTRACT Background In a shared traumatic reality (STR), both therapists and clients experience collective trauma that affects the entire community. These circumstances disrupt the typical asymmetry of therapeutic relationships, creating intertwined personal and professional challenges for therapists. Aim Despite the growing body of literature on STR, the mechanisms that either exacerbate or alleviate therapists' psychological distress during prolonged armed conflict are not yet fully understood. This cross‐sectional quantitative study investigated the effects of therapeutic work during the October 7th terrorist attack and the subsequent “Swords of Iron” war on Israeli therapists ( N = 178). Methods In line with the “double exposure” premise of STR, we explored the relationship between post‐traumatic stress and the personal trauma subscale of the Shared Trauma/Professional Post‐traumatic Growth Inventory (STPPG), which measures how therapists activate their personal trauma in therapeutic settings. Results Correlational analyses revealed that higher personal trauma scores were associated with increased post‐traumatic stress. Moderation analyses indicated that the technique‐specific subscale of the STPPG, which captures changes in professional boundaries and increased self‐disclosure, intensified this relationship. Conversely, the professional post‐traumatic growth subscale moderated this association in the opposite direction, rendering it non‐significant at high levels of growth. Conclusions These findings highlight the vulnerability of therapists within the STR context, underscoring the role of professional boundary maintenance and post‐traumatic growth as factors that may attenuate the impact of personal trauma exposure on post‐traumatic stress in the face of collective trauma.