1. Hampshire Queer Gender
and Sexuality Conference
Self-Care for Activists and Allies
Morganne Ray
Outright Vermont
University of Vermont

2. One of the amazing things about activists
is that we often deliberately expose
ourselves to brutality when we believe it
necessary. What is sometimes equally
surprising is how little we know about the
psychological effects of this violence. We
need to prepare ourselves and learn how
to support each other through the
physical and emotional consequences of
trauma. (Supporting Ourselves)

3. Trauma-Related Definitions
Trauma – any experience that blocks natural responses
of fight or flight, characterized by a loss of grounding and
interference with normal memory processing
Resiliency – traits that allow a person to recover from
traumatic experiences quickly and effectively
Traumatic Stress – responses of the body and mind to
traumatic experiences
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – a collection of
symptoms related to prolonged and extreme experiences
of traumatic stress as outlined in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual

4. Map of the Brain
Neo-Cortex
language, conscious thought, imagination
Mammalian Brain
emotion, judgment, memory
Reptilian Brain
breathing, balance, temperat
ure

5. How Trauma Happens
Autonomic
Fight/Flight Nervous System
activated
Limbic System
perceives threat
Parasympathetic
Freeze Nervous System
activated

6. Building Resiliency
Factors that increase resiliency:
• Access to material resources
• Social and familial supports
• Strong sense of self worth
• Experiences of affecting change
• Participation in social justice focused
organizations and events

7. Exercise
• Make a couple of notes to yourself about how
you feel in this moment.
• Use your Apples to Apples card to organize
yourself into groups of 3. Think creatively!
• Introduce yourself to your group. Learn the
name and something about each group
member.
• Check in with yourself again. How have your
feelings changed?

8. Before the Action
• Play games and do activities that encourage
trust, bonding and team building
• Be prepared for the scary, stressful things that
may happen in during an action
• Make sure your action plans include a
calm, quiet place to take breaks, and a debrief
session at the end of the action
• Discuss self-care in advance and commit to
taking care of yourself even in you “feel fine”

9. Staying Grounded
• The longer the traumatic experience lasts, the
more likely a person will react by dissociating.
• Dissociation impedes an individual’s ability to
engage in goal directed behavior.
• Dissociation increases the likelihood of
developing PTSD.
• Staying grounded in the moment and the
experience helps the brain continue to process
memories through the neo-cortex.

10. Exercise
• Find a comfortable position in the room. Settle
into your body and the space. Breathe deeply.
• Notice for yourself 3 different things you can
see, 3 different things you can hear, and 3
different sensations you feel in your body.
• Repeat this process, this time noticing an
additional 2 things you see, hear and feel.
• Repeat this process again, noticing 1 more
thing you see, hear and feel.

11. During the Action
• Reduce your intake of stimulants like energy
drinks, coffee, soda, and spicy foods
• Focus on problem-solving, contributing to
the action and fighting back
• Try to stay grounded and avoid dissociating
• Do not use drugs, alcohol or other
substances that numb or suppress emotions
and reactions

12. Supporting Others
• People react to trauma in many different ways and may
be carrying past traumas that are triggered by the
action. It is important to be prepared to flexible in your
efforts to be supportive.
• Symptoms of traumatic stress often carry social
connotations of weakness and dysfunction thus
dissuading many people from accessing the support
they need. It is important to normalize the experience
of traumatic stress, and encourage
everyone, especially organizers, to utilize supports.

13. Exercise
• Pick a member of each group to fill the following roles:
– Storyteller – tell the listener a story about your life
– Listener – listen to the storyteller’s story
– Observer – Notice the changes in the interaction
• First, the listener does not react in any way to the story
• Then, the listener actively listens to the story including
clarifying questions and paraphrasing what the listener
hears back to the storyteller.
• After the story is finished, the observer shares with the
small group their observations

14. Support During the Action
• Minimize feelings of confusion, defeat and
helplessness
• Encourage everyone to eat, sleep, take
breaks and support one another
• Make peer counseling or other formal
supports available on-site
• Have an external counselor available for
peer counselors and action leaders

15. Integrating the Experience
• The most important task after a traumatic event is to
re-establish safety. Most people find this safety among
their friends and family.
• Finding the “silver lining” in traumatic experiences can
often aid recovery.
• Many therapists believe that “resolving” trauma
includes developing a coherent narrative of the event –
identifying beginning, middle and end.
• Recovering from traumatic experiences is a highly
individual process. There is no “right” way heal.

16. Exercise
• Working with your group, identify an
experience that is shared by all group
members. This could include, but is not
limited to, attending the conference or this
workshop.
• Together, write, draw or use any other form of
expression to document this shared
experience.
• Share your experience with the large group.

17. After the Action
• Help people to connect with friends and
family quickly
• Engage in vigorous exercise
• Talk to friends, write or find other ways to
express your experiences
• Remember that experiencing stress
symptoms is normal and will pass

18. Organizations Doing this Work
• International - Activist Trauma Support Network
• United States - Healing Trauma
• Canada - Peer To Peer Support For Activists
Collective
• Denmark - Copenhagen Activist Trauma Support
• United Kingdom - Activist Trauma Support
• Germany - Out of Action
• Israel - Israeli Activist Trauma Team

19. One of the amazing things about activists
is that we often deliberately expose
ourselves to brutality when we believe it
necessary. What is sometimes equally
surprising is how little we know about the
psychological effects of this violence. We
need to prepare ourselves and learn how
to support each other through the
physical and emotional consequences of
trauma. (Supporting Ourselves)