Migrant Clinicians Network and the Witness to Witness Program are pleased to present Part 1 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. 

At this moment in time, service providers are overexposed to stories of hardship. Fortunately, we are also honored to learn about examples of adaptation and courage. However, regardless of whether the stories providers hear are challenging or uplifting, being a witness takes a toll. 

The premise of this online seminar is that the helpers need help to manage the distress that comes with the role of witness and helper. Sometimes the distress comes from the stories providers are told by the people they work with or interactions they directly observe. Sometimes the distress comes from the people who administer the policies and procedures that affect the people they serve. And often the distress derives from both sources. Providers may also have their own challenging histories. Current situations may trigger memories of difficult personal experiences, making it harder to cope with contemporary stress. 

Join Dr. Kaethe Weingarten to discuss all these topics. In the second half of this online seminar, we look at sources of resilience and what Dr. Weingarten calls reasonable hope. There is time for Q&A throughout and we encourage participants to share in the chat and respond to each other. In this way, participants create virtual community.

Meet the Presenter

 Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., directs the Witness to Witness Program (W2W) whose goal is to help the helpers, primarily serving health care workers, attorneys, domestic violence advocates and journalists working with vulnerable populations.  She was an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology in the Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry from 1981-2017 and a faculty member of the Family Institute of Cambridge where she founded and directed the Program in Families, Trauma and Resilience.  She has published six books and over 100 articles and essays.