Let’s keep the fire burning inside – avoid burnout!
Investigative projects come with all kinds of pressures that influence your physical, mental and emotional well-being – and ultimately your ability to sustain and increase your potential and the work you most care about. We know that a number of investigative colleagues have suffered from burn-out and stress, often debilitating them for months. Therefore, we offer this special course in stress management with a total of five sessions over a month because if you want to change a habit, it takes practice. Change requires practice over time.
This program will support participants to better understand the mechanics of stress, how to relate it in a healthier way and what changes they can make to create a healthier working environment.
This program is for you if:
- You are concerned about your stress levels and overall physical and mental health;
- You are recovering from exhaustion or burn out; or
- You just want to improve your ability to deal with the ongoing disruption and uncertainties of our times in a more supportive way.
The webinar and weekly meetups offer a basic introduction to stress management. You can expect to learn to recognize when you are off balance and practice methods to help you get back into balance and integrate them into your daily life.
The webinar will be practical and participatory. During the meetups you can share your experiences and challenges. You’ll also get the opportunity to deepen your self-awareness and practice self-regulation techniques with the support of the trainers and your fellow colleagues. Though the meetups are not mandatory, we recommend that you attend them. Just like journalism skills, stress management skills require both time and practice.
Kick-off webinar Tuesday September 22 from 16:00 – 17:30 CET
The webinar will cover the following topics:
- The health and wellbeing of investigative journalists. Should we be concerned? What about and why? What might make a positive difference?
- The landscape of stress. What is stress and when is it healthy and unhealthy? What happens to our body, mind and emotions when we experience an unpleasant or otherwise challenging situation?
- Self-awareness. How do you know you have reached an unhealthy stress level? What are the key stress factors in your work and/or life right now that generate stress? How can you avoid going over your physical and mental limits?
- Self-regulation. How do you come back into balance when you’re feeling off balance?
A recording of the webinar will be available throughout the duration of the program.
During the meetups, we will dive into the following themes:
- Meetup 1 – Tuesday September 29 from 16:00 to 17:00 CET: Self-awareness and Self-management – understanding your body, mind and emotions under stress and what helps you get out of unhelpful habits.
- Meetup 2 – Tuesday October 6 from 16:00 to 17:00 CET: Self-awareness and Focus – managing distractions and maintaining your mind’s ability to focus and manage attention.
- Meetup 3 – Tuesday October 13 from 16:00 to 17:00 CET: Self-awareness and Choices – how to make choices and set boundaries in a world of deadlines.
- Meetup 4 – Tuesday October 20 from 16:00 to 17:00 CET: Create habits that make you a more resilient journalist. Cultivating a positive mindset to help integrate what you have learned further into your life.
The meetups are not mandatory. However, we recommend that you attend as many as possible. You are able to sign-up for them separately. The meetups will not be recorded.
One-on-one coaching session. A one-hour free coaching session to address your personal challenges. There are only 10 spots available, first come, first served. Once all free spots have been filled, you will still have the opportunity to sign-up for a fee of €25. Sign up for individual coaching here.
Instructors/trainers:
| Kim Brice (US/Netherlands), originally an anthropologist, who has experience as an activist and organizational consultant with non-profit organizations in the media freedom, freedom of expression and broader human rights and social justice sectors. She has supported a number of national and international investigative journalism groups. She is also a personal leadership, mindfulness and stress reduction coach and trainer. She has coached a number of investigative journalists through post-burn out and other professional and personal challenges. |  |
| Robin van Raaij (Netherlands) is a coach and trainer with vast management experience having held executive positions in both the commercial and public sectors. His experience with organizational change management enables him to address issues such as teamwork and business development challenges. He is an associate with the Kairos Project which provides social and environmental organizations affordable and accessible coaching-based learning and development. As a coach, he supports clients with both personal and professional challenges. |  |