Healing the Healers - keynotes and seminars (co-facilitator:  Karen Schudson)

For professionals who work with abused and neglected children, the emotional toll can be overwhelming.  What is the impact on our spouses, mates, professional peers, and friends?  What is the impact on our children and parenting skills?  Can we emotionally survive – perhaps even thrive – in the midst of pain flowing from our work? 

Do professionals working with sexual abuse victims suffer special repercussions in their own sexuality?  If so, how can we preserve our own intimate relationships?  Are new sources of stress significantly different from those that have always burdened high-pressure professions?  If so, do they call for new ways of coping?

Most often, Healing the Healers is an interactive seminar -- from two hours to two days -- that explores how our work affects our lives and our relationships with colleagues, spouses, partners, and our own children.  The seminar provides participants the opportunity to develop a “self-inventory,” and to better understand and manage stress, burnout, and compassion fatigue.  A motivating keynote, introducing these same topics, also is available.

Since introducing Healing the Healers at the National Symposium on Child Sexual Abuse in 1993, Charlie and Karen have presented their seminar at professional conferences throughout the country -- to social workers, therapists, doctors, nurses, police officers, lawyers, judges and other professionals who work with abused children.