This is the second post of three in my series about building resilience to acute stress and trauma. This week, I'd like to talk about social and physical tools. I’ll look at using human attachments to curb our stress levels, and some of the physical ways we can release tension. Work demands and mental health risks to carers are ever increasing, so I have created a resilience toolkit acronym using the word RESPECT. I recommend accumulating a good balance of resources that cover the following areas: Relaxation Education Social Physical Exercise Creativity Thinking I suggest you try out some of the techniques in order to create your own personal resilience toolkit (Dunkley, 2018), ready to use when needed. How do Social factors play a role in helping ease acute stress and trauma? Socialising and connecting oneself with people can provide an invaluable source for stress busting. Here are a few of the things that I have found helpful.
If teams haven’t been supported well or offered good supervision after a traumatic event they can experience ‘trauma splitting.’ This can lead to a breakdown in team dynamics, becoming detrimental to staff wellbeing and, at times, resulting in grievances and scapegoating.
Reducing acute stress and trauma with Physical activities We know a lot about trauma and stress being held in a physical sense, so this has formed a very important part of my toolkit.
And finally. In my next, and last post in the series, I’ll cover building resilience to acute stress and trauma by using exercise, creativity and thought tools. Can exercise really release the sort of hormones that make you feel yourself again? And how can basing your thoughts in reality help you overcome workplace trauma? You can also find an in-depth look at the entire toolkit in my book, Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers, available from Amazon. In the meantime, feel free to comment with any questions or thoughts. Edited by John Kirkham
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