Join the dialogue - text your questions, insights, and feedback to The Dignity Lab podcast. In this conversation on The Dignity Lab, guest host and neonatologist Dr. Staci Olister brings together trauma-informed care expert Mary Coughlin and host Dr. Jennifer Griggs to explore how trauma and dignity are deeply intertwined in healthcare and beyond. They trace the evolution of trauma from a narrow focus on physical injury to a broader, lived experience that overwhelms a person’s capacity to cope. They define dignity as our inherent, unearned worth—no more and no less than anyone else’s—and extend this to organizations, non-human animals, and the Earth itself. Dignity violations—exclusion, humiliation, lack of safety, medical gaslighting, and structural injustice—are at the root of much of the trauma experienced by patients and clinicians. Mary describes how we can “build the buffering” for people in overwhelming situations, rather than only “summing up the suffering.” Jennifer offers a pathway for reclaiming dignity: naming a dignity violation, affirming a person’s worth, seeking accountability and repair where possible, and shifting from “me” (the one to whom something happened) to “I” (the agent/creator) and ultimately to “Thou,” seeing the sacred dignity in others, including those who have harmed us. They also address shame as an emotion that thrives in silence and secrecy. They examine how dehumanizing language, hierarchical culture, business models of productivity, and electronic health records can undermine trauma-informed, dignity-centered care. The episode closes with an invitation to join Mary and Jennifer for an immersive, trauma-informed, dignity-centered retreat in Ireland, focused on embodied leadership, radical listening, reflective writing, and nervous system regulation. Takeaways Trauma is a lived experience that touches body, mind, spirit, and communityDignity is our inherent, unearned worth, extending to humans, organizations, and the EarthTrauma and dignity violations are interwoven in healthcare and beyondTrauma-informed care principles are practical ways to enact dignity in everyday practiceShame and secrecy fuel systemic disconnection in healthcare culturesPatients, families, and clinicians are routinely exposed to everyday dignity violationsWe reclaim dignity by naming harm, affirming worth, and seeking accountability and repairHealing involves shifting from “me” to “I” to “Thou” in our stories and leadershipDehumanizing language, business models, and electronic recor Exploring what it means to live and lead with dignity at work, in our families, in our communities, and in the world. What is dignity? How can we honor the dignity of others? And how can we repair and reclaim our dignity after harm? Tune in to hear stories about violations of dignity and ways in which we heal, forgive, and make choices about how we show up in a chaotic and fractured world. Hosted by physician and coach Jennifer Griggs. For more information on the podcast, please visit www.thedignitylab.com. For more information on podcast host Dr. Jennifer Griggs, please visit https://jennifergriggs.com/. For additional free resources, including the periodic table of dignity elements, please visit https://jennifergriggs.com/resources/. The Dignity Lab is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will receive 10% of the purchase price when you click through and make a purchase. This supports our production and hosting costs. Bookshop.org doesn’t earn money off bookstore sales, all profits go to independent bookstores. We encourage our listeners to purchase books through Bookshop.org for this reason.
