Migrant Clinicians Network and the Witness to Witness Program are pleased to present Part 2 in this three-part online seminar series that addresses how to manage the multiple stressors impacting service providers and those they serve.  The series will present a model of the helper as witness that provides concrete suggestions as to how the provider can shift from feeling ineffective to feeling effective and competent.  Participants will learn ways of activating resilience, creating a self-care toolbox and managing grief and loss. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the way we function in our homes, schools, and jobs. Many service providers, considered essential workers, continue to work outside the home and are experiencing stress far beyond normal levels. Work stress is combined with concern for their families — who are also living through difficult situations, including worry about the service provider. While deeply concerned about caring for the people they serve, service providers are also rightly concerned about themselves. They need constructive ways to understand the current context and approaches to caring for themselves so that they can remain emotionally resilient while they do their work. 

This online seminar will provide a general understanding of common emotional responses to the pandemic – worry, anxiety, demoralization, moral distress – and provide efficient strategies to deal with them. A focus will be on the witnessing model, developed by presenter Kaethe Weingarten, PhD, that describes four different witness positions that affect people in their daily lives. Ways of moving into the only effective position will be suggested. Dr. Weingarten will describe concrete ideas for remaining in one’s resilient zone – not stuck too high, not stuck too low. She will also share an approach for preventing the development of PTSD.