Dispatches from the front lines of trauma healing.
I’ve been writing about trauma healing, PTSD, CPTSD, and wellbeing for almost 15 years, exploring what it means to be a high-performer making impact in the world — without sacrificing health or happiness.
Self-Care and COVID-19: An Invitation
We need to learn how to do the work ahead of us in a way that doesn't consume us, that is not just sustainable but in fact deeply nourishing. I know that it's possible. What it requires is self-care.
Safety Planning for Coronavirus (COVID-19)
If you understand exponentials, you can see that like a slow-moving tidal wave, COVID-19 is becoming a serious pandemic. Because of exponential growth, what seems like a slow rise of cases can quickly surge to overwhelm our health centers. We all want do our part to avoid this, so let’s explore some risk mitigation…
Leadership in the Time of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The public health system undertakes pandemic preparedness to be ready for a time like this. Almost everyone underestimates how much can be done to prevent more cases with simple behavior change.
The #1 Reason You Shouldn’t Meditate
People with active Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD) or other types of trauma should not meditate the way that other people meditate. People with active trauma symptoms or who are easily triggered into flashbacks need to create alternative pathways to meditation that work for their brains and bodies.
5 Signs that Changemaker Stress is Impacting Your Life
Things are getting more chaotic as the pace of change accelerates. There are lots of reasons for this, but around the world, old systems are under tremendous strain. We're already in transition towards something new, but probably not prepared for the toll this uncertainty is taking on us as leaders.
How To Create a Daily Meditation Practice
Three minutes is the Minimum Viable Practice because everyone has three minutes a day to meditate. Everyone. New mothers, CEOs who live in business class, my friends on humanitarian assignment in Mozambique. In all my teaching, I have found this to be true.
What You Need to Know about Stress (Before it Hurts You)
Stress may not be optional, but how we respond to it is. People exposed to the same stressors have different stress hormone levels, depending on how each individual responds. We may not be able to control the stress we’re exposed to, but how we chose to respond to it is everything.
Belonging
Exclusion and belonging are part of the same dynamic, and at the core is a need to be seen and cared for, as a member of a group. On an animal level, I don't think we realize how much connecting to other people means to us and how valuable it is for our long-term well-being.
How to Land the Plane (Keeping It Together in Turbulent Times)
The world around us tells us we're not enough, or we're too much, and we should [Fill-In-The-Blank]. I say no to that. You know what you need. Give it to yourself. Surround yourself with people who nourish you.
Post-Traumatic Stress is Not a Disorder
Trauma is simply a stressful event that gets stuck in the brain and body. There is nothing “disordered” or “not in order” about it. It is an orderly, predictable and very natural response to an event. Calling our body’s response to trauma a “disorder” creates shame and keeps our options in the shadows.
The Problem with "Deserving"
Assuming we "deserve better" means that something in inherently unfair. You're being treated badly by someone or something, which immediately takes away your power and puts you in the stance of a victim. We say it about a situation or a person, but either way, "deserving" invokes the idea that we live in a fair and just universe, that has somehow failed to deliver to us what we are entitled to.
Why Social Media is Making You Depressed (and What to Do About It)
Recent research now indicates social media actually causes depression — as in, there is a cause (social media use) and an effect (depression). The study, published in this month's Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, shows that limiting social media use to no more than 30 minutes a day significantly reduces loneliness and depression.
How to Sleep: A Leader's Guide to Daily R&R
Learning how to structure your rest and align with your sleep cycles will give you the foundation you need to feel good the rest of the day. Your mental alertness will contribute to emotional self-regulation, which means you're more resilient and adaptable when stress comes your way.
How the 7 D’s are Disrupting Leadership-As-Usual
Rapid technological change is fast creating a society that is going to be vastly different than the one we experience today. This is why leadership is so massively important. I want to explore just why exponential technologies are disruptive to leaders, because this can be deceptive.
Accountability and Exploitation in Aid
As leaders and changemakers, I'd like to explore the idea of community accountability when exploitation happens. I'm speaking specifically here to people who do service work in challenging places, because the power dynamic that I’m exploring is the same in the aid industry as elsewhere.
5 Ways to Navigate Leadership on the Edge of Chaos
We know the old tools aren't working. That's why, unless we do something about it, we're stressed out of our minds and unable to sleep, much less relax. Our to-do lists and obligations take us so far outside of ourselves that we spend the day rushing on our feet, forgetting to eat or drink, let alone rest or enjoy.
How To Find a Good Therapist (Anywhere in the World)
My hope is to break down what it takes to get therapy because when you need it, it is a very useful resource. As changemakers who are responsible for teams and leading projects, it’s up to us to address our stressors and take care of our issues.
An App to Help Sexual Assault Survivors Access Emergency Medical Care
Trauma-informed care for sexual assault survivors is available from only the most resourced health centers in a few places in the world, with no clear way to scale. So since 2015, I've been working with a coalition from around the world to create a mobile app resource to help sexual assault survivors navigate the health system. We call it the Rape Crisis Counseling app.
Supercharge Your Self-Care
I hate to say it, but in a list of priorities, we changemakers are way too used to putting ourselves last. I hope you see that for us to be successful in this work, for us to make a dent in the future, how we treat ourselves must change.
Facebook Made Me a Bad Friend
I'm in transition now to using tech more consciously. I've seen the impact it's had on my well-being and negotiating this relationship more proactively is now a major factor in my self-care.