PowerPoint Meeting Trauma: I Shouldn’t Have to Explain Pain to Be Believed

I didn’t have the words for it then, but what I experienced was textbook PowerPoint meeting trauma, where institutions care more about protocol than people.

I remember one meeting in particular. A school administrator. A long, rectangular table.

I had shown up to advocate for someone I love who had already been through far too much.

She needed support.

A little protection.

Maybe even a trace of humanity.

Instead, I got policies. Checklists. A barely disguised performance of concern.

Not because they were cruel, but because the system had trained them to stay numb.

To protect themselves from feeling. To protect the institution from liability.

I was mid-sentence when I said it, half-joking and half-serious:

“I feel like I need a PowerPoint presentation just to be believed.”

But I wasn’t really joking.

Because I’d been here before, trying to make a case for something I knew was true.

Trying to translate raw experience into something a professional might consider 'valid.'

And once again, I could feel my body doing what it always does when I'm not believed.

Over-explaining. Rationalizing. Bracing.

That day didn’t change their minds.

But it changed something in me.

Because I realized it didn’t matter how well I spoke, how many times I showed up,

Or how many documents I brought.

They weren’t curious.

And without curiosity, there is no trust.

No connection. No real support.

Just the illusion of listening, wrapped in district letterhead.

A Slice of Humble Pie

If you need a PowerPoint to prove your pain, you’re probably talking to the wrong person.

Reflecton

Have you ever found yourself “performing” pain just to be taken seriously?

Where have you felt like no matter how clearly you spoke, your truth didn’t land?

Affirmation

My story is real, even when someone else refuses to hear it.

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Thank you for reading. If this stirred something in you and you’d like to spend more time with this work, you can explore The Humble Pie 12 Steps and learn more about how I support people as a trauma recovery coach.