Self-Care and Community Care
Self-care and community care are about looking after yourself and those around you. Facilitating learning about sexual violence can range from satisfying and rewarding to challenging and overwhelming. It is important to make sure that you are able to take the time to take care of yourself and that you are willing to reach out to co-workers, friends and family, or professional supports, if needed.
Ideally, you will be in a situation where you are delivering training with a co-facilitator. Not only is this helpful if a learner needs support during a session, it also helps to have someone with whom to share the joys and challenges of facilitation. After a session, plan for time afterwards to check in with each other about your experiences and any successes or challenges in facilitating. This allows for time to reflect on issues related to participation, inclusion, and safety; to consider any feedback that you received from learners; and, to discuss any facilitation successes and challenges. If you are facilitating alone, you might use the time after a session to reflect or use a journal to make notes as a way of processing the experience.
Check-in/Reflection Questions
Taking time after a session to “debrief” can be a helpful way to care for yourself. Here are some sample debriefing questions.
- What was a positive moment or success in this session?
- How did the learners engage with the different activities? Is there something I want to facilitate or do differently next time?
- Did I or a learner seem to have a response to the material, a shared story or another learner that was challenging? If so, how was it responded to or resolved?
- Is there something I want to do differently next time? Is there something that would be helpful for me to learn about or check with a co-worker about?