secondary trauma
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Blog: Self-Care for Activists

Ali Nardone's picture

Self-love

Activism can be difficult, dangerous, and draining work. We are forced to juggle enormous workloads, chronic stress, and exposure to trauma. There seems to be a dangerous perception within the community that we must work to eradicate human rights abuses at the expense of our own health and well-being, and that a truly committed activist works to achieve their goals regardless of the personal costs. As a result, we are often hesitant to speak about our own stress, burnout, and secondary trauma. Jane Barry, in her article "What's the Point of the Revolution if We Can't Dance", proposes several strategies to improve activist sustainability...

notebook: I'll Walk Beside You: Providing emotional support for testifiers at the South African Truth & Reconciliation Commission

In this notebook we learn about the the process of creating 'briefers' to accompany victims during the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).  These 'briefers' aided victims before, during, and after they testified by providing psychosocial support and legal support.