Dancing at the aliens’ ball: The waltz of the wounded healer

A narrative of my developmental trauma is presented. This trauma would not hit the headlines – it was ‘ordinary’, nobody’s fault, just ‘one of those things’. It did however have follow-on effects on emotional difficulties I had as a teenager and adult, on life choices, and on later becoming, and working as, a counsellor. I suggest the metaphor of dance as illustrating the benefit of having a trauma history.