Healing Trauma and Cultivating Empathy
Be The 5: Tim Ferriss
Each month, we feature someone who has inspired us with their high level of Emotional Maturity, meaning they're “being the 5” and choosing not to take things personally, responding reactively or approaching the situation in a way that contributes to the problem.
Tim Ferriss, image courtesy of Twitter.
This month, we're featuring entrepreneur, investor, author, and podcaster Tim Ferriss. Tim’s book “The 4-Hour Workweek” put him in the spotlight at its publication in 2007. Since then, he’s developed a prolific career as an angel investor and adviser to startups, as a TV show producer, book author, and - most recently - podcaster. Five of his six published books, including “The 4-Hour Workweek” and “Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers”, have made the New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s #1 bestseller lists. He’s among Fortune’s “40 under 40” and Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People.”
THE PODCAST
Tim’s podcast, The Tim Ferris Show, is the #1 business podcast among more than half a million podcasts, having been voted a fan favorite numerous times. It’s the first business/ interview podcast to exceed 100 million downloads. Now, it has exceeded 500 million. The long list of Tim’s guests includes Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Jackman, Jon Favreau, Dr. Jane Goodall, Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Robbins, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Edward Norton, Maria Sharapova, Vince Vaughn, and hundreds more.
But one episode of this podcast stands out: for its courage, for its honesty, and for the powerful healing impact it brings to abuse victims.
TIM’S HEALING JOURNEY AFTER CHILDHOOD ABUSE
“I’ll speak specifically to people who have suffered sexual trauma. As someone put it to me once, you have made your trauma part of your medicine. Meaning that you have the ability to empathize and deeply feel other people. You have the ability to empathize and resonate and potentially help people in a way that you would not possess had you not gone through what you went through.”
At the outset of the recording, Tim announced that this podcast episode, titled “My Healing Journey After Childhood Abuse” and published in September 2020, was going to be different.
He then proceeded to share with his conversation partner, Debbie Millman, and his millions of listeners, including family and friends who were until this moment unaware, that he had suffered sexual abuse from ages two to four by the son of a babysitter.
What follows is a two-hour long conversation between Tim and Debbie Millman, author and sexual abuse survivor who inspired him to make this courageous step after sharing her own story on his podcast a couple of years ago. Tim and Debbie approach the subject with honesty, vulnerability, courage, and above all: empathy. Their goal and hope being that they help other abuse survivors.
BEING A SURVIVOR
Tim’s story is not only about the trauma he suffered: it’s much more about the survival mechanisms he developed around it. What makes the podcast such a powerful listen is Tim’s honest account of all the different defense strategies he had subconsciously developed in childhood - such as, for example, dissociation - which as an adult he saw as various, unrelated to each other flaws he needed to overcome.
His journey, however, led him to the understanding that they were all connected to this one main source - and they were all there to help him survive. Like with any childhood abuse survivor, the psyche invokes strong defense mechanisms. As an adult, Tim was able to face his trauma and work through it.
SHARING THE JOURNEY
Tim’s courage and generosity of spirit don’t stop here. With a mind focused on the multitude of sexual abuse survivors (1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men, according to official statistics), Tim’s goal is to offer help and healing. After he aired the podcast episode, he published an exhaustive list of resources on his website - that came recommended and worked for him during his healing. These include documentaries, books, organizations, tools, and many more online resources.
Tim’s courage in sharing his journey has undoubtedly brought healing and comfort to many survivors - and will continue to do so.
Thank you, Tim Ferriss, for having the courage to be real, raw, and honest - representing true authenticity and vulnerability.
This article was originally published here.
