In November, CVT’s U.S. DEI committee hosted a Self and Collective Care workshop. This workshop was facilitated by Lucinda Pepper and Dr. Felicia Sy. This was an important step towards creating a workplace culture that centers staff wellbeing and its connection to identity.

Within the committee, there was a general understanding of the varying but concurrent experiences of the U.S. staff. This led to an intentional effort to bring people together, with a shared hope for what it could foster.

“We hoped to take a direction that fosters intentional practices and creates a culture of caring for one another,” said Cory Matkovich, a member of the DEI committee and a project officer for CVT’s International Services and Capacity Development.

CVT’s connection to staff wellbeing and care

Outside of providing direct services to clients, CVT also provides technical support and training to outside partners and agencies. An important and oft central topic discussed with partner agencies is staff well-being. Cory spoke to the wealth of knowledge that’s within the organization. With that comes the ongoing desire to tap into that expertise for our own staff.

If we expect others to take on this work, it’s important that we model it ourselves.”

Cory Matkovich

Why is self-care important?

CVT is an organization with a mission of supporting the healing of those affected by torture, as well as advocating for the eradication of similar future harm. This means that everyone across the organization engages with potentially sensitive content, even if not directly. 

It is understood that burnout is real, and that it occurs at high rates for the people within helping professions. Examples of this include fields like social work or mental health provision. 

All of CVT’s work has a connection to supporting survivors of atrocities. Because of this, we also recognize that everyone is subject to secondary trauma. This is true even if you’re not in a client-facing role. 

Whether we are interacting with clients for mental health sessions or case management, creating programming, training partners, handling social media or running payroll, everyone should have the opportunity to center their own well-being throughout their work week. 

And, existing within identities that have been historically marginalized places additional emphasis on the necessity to take care of yourself. This fact exists outside of the intricacies of your particular job function.

“A person cannot be well in a workplace where they do not feel safe and accepted,” said Liyam Eloul, a CVT mental health clinical advisor and member of CVT’s well-being working group. 

“The energy that it takes to self-regulate in an environment that feels threatening, or to withhold unaccepted components of your identity, contributes to burnout.” 

Why is the DEI committee involved?

Because of the ongoing conversations surrounding self-care and identity alongside the varied backgrounds and life experiences of our staff, finding a way to tangibly zoom in on the idea of self-care and connecting it to the collective health of the organization felt paramount. This opportunity was one the U.S. DEI committee was excited and well-primed to engage in. 

Outside of this workshop, CVT is currently embarking on a journey of staff well-being. What is clear is the undeniable connection between intentional DEI work and that of self-care and well-being. In fact, this was an important point uplifted by the facilitators before and during the session. 

Staff wellbeing and sincere DEI work are intrinsically interconnected.”

Liyam Eloul

“Wellbeing means different things to each of us, and the strategies we use to achieve wellbeing can be personally, contextually and culturally distinct,” said Liyam.

“Working in a diverse and international organization requires an approach to staff wellbeing that is informed by this awareness and respect for difference, as well as efforts to ensure equitable access to resources which contribute to our wellbeing.” 

The role of support in care

CVT has shown an organization-wide desire to center our self-care and the overall wellness of our colleagues. This is evidenced by the creation of a well-being working group. Naturally, there were questions about how DEI work connected to self-care, something that felt like wellbeing workto some.

Cory spoke clearly about the ways identity and diversity have a direct relationship with well-being in the workplace. They also pointed to how that relationship can directly impact someone’s feeling of safety, and subsequently, their work.

“People need others to be in community with, and our work suffers if we’re all dealing with difficult things alone. We have a responsibility to take care of our own well-being, because neglecting it can ripple through the organization,” Cory said.

“There is, of course, an individual responsibility to ensure we show up in a way that’s regulated for the workplace, but at the same time, we can’t always manage that alone.”

Liyam echoed the importance of community within well-being work, emphasizing its necessity within our field.

“Social support is a significant source of resilience and wellbeing across cultures and contexts,” she said.

“Our workplace can be a prime source of social support, particularly for human rights and humanitarian workers who, given the distinct exposure of their work, can feel isolated from the mainstream.”

Fostering a sense of connection, belonging and collective care in the workplace is a vital organizational effort.”

Liyam Eloul

How was the session?

The virtual session began with introductions, setting community agreements for the space and encouraging open conversation. 

The group then did an exercise on mapping difficult moments. This was followed by a tutorial on the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). This technique, also known as tapping, is a hands-on way to mitigate stress or anxiety throughout the day. 

Lucinda and Felicia did a great job in approaching the space with care. This included acknowledging the barriers that could be present when it came to accessing emotion or sharing (especially among the 60+ participants!). 

According to a survey the committee sent out after the session, familiarity with some of the techniques the facilitators shared varied. But, everyone had positive points to share, and many had helpful feedback for next time. 

And, almost everyone was eager for additional resources. Participants were eager to either continue their work in self-care, or pass info along to a colleague or friend.

What’s next?

The facilitators and the committee were aligned on an important factor: when it comes to self-care, this session is not the end point. This is especially true when we think of how it translates to the collective care of an organization. 

Because of this, the committee is in conversation about how to tangibly build on what we’ve learned. Taking point from both the workshop and colleague’s feedback provides a pathway for creating additional resources and opportunities for education. The committee is also hopeful that it fosters continued growth and connection among the staff. And, a major ongoing goal is for this self-care work to happen alongside the well-being working group.

Much of this workshop centered the individual and our own self-care as a way to subsequently support the greater organization. Think of the oxygen mask metaphor: We have to care for ourselves in order to continue sustainably and efficiently caring for others.

Our hope is that through the efforts of CVT’s U.S. DEI Committee, Jordan DEI Committee, DEI Global Council and the well-being working group, we will continue to build on these ideas. That building means ongoing support individual staff self-care, as well as bringing more attention to the ways we can increase our collective care as an organization.