I am appalled by the monumental waste of expertise, knowledge, human power in the fields of human rights and climate change justice because of a deafening lack of prevention of vicarious traumatization, empathy fatigue,  and (eco)anxiety.

I am appalled by this collective narrative in which activists are shamed to “not having-what-it-gets-to-do-the-job” when they struggle to cope with the emotional toll of their vocation.

And this adherence to this collective narrative, be it conscious or not, implies that :

• you need to cut yourself from your emotions in order to succeed in these professions;

• you must remain objective, complying with indicators, legal frameworks, and rules;

• you must be performant and reach performative objectives.

It is having internalized:

• that prioritizing humans ( not to mention the sensitive, Nature, emotions ) is not perceived as being professional 

• Neither is expressing emotions, hesitations, limitations.

Professionals who do, are seen - you see yourself - as broken.

I believe it is quite the contrary.

You’re enough of a sensitive being to sense that the world is not going well.

You’re enough of a sensitive being to feel that you have a responsibility in making the world better as you found it, for everyone and also for the next generations to come.

You’re enough of a sensitive being to strive to have a regenerative impact.

So you’ve been exposed.

Your vocation has exposed you to the harsh realities, sometimes atrocities happening in the world.

And it is because your predictive human brain functions quite well, registering all the life experiences you’ve had and adjusting to them, that you’ve ended up depleted, exhausted, discouraged, confused, angry, anxious, depressed.

I find this quite reassuring in fact.

This brain of yours has been doing its job.

That is protecting you, keeping you safe somehow.

Safe but anxious. Safe but unsatisfied. Safe but overwhelmed, safe but avoidant.

Therefore the stake for you is quite high :

Is it still possible to navigate through Life with joy and fulfillment without letting go of your life purposes, part of your identity?

Yes.

Essentially by soothing and managing your nervous system.

And using the neuroplasticity of your brain to change any habits of thoughts,  habits of feelings , habits of behaviors that are blocking you and preventing you to enjoy YOUR life.

Check my different offers that  will enable you to answer that tricky question.

.I've often been asked how I could endure these stories on day to day basis.
For a long time I could not figured out what to say.
Then I came up with this sentence : that's the job, I am a professional.

A quite descent professional I must say.
I reached the objectives. I had an evolutive career in my organisation.
For me, at the time, all boiled down to posture.
I was a state agent who could be human but first and foremost neutral, impartial.

Hidden behind this shield, influenced by peers' injunctions or models I thought I should follow,
I cut myself from my emotions, gradually, until they suddenly backlashed at me.

I was first surprised when I could not cry in situations I used to.
I did not immediately notice I have gained as much weigh as the number of years I've been working.
I did not realize I no longer go to human rights film festival to watch great documentaries or that I no longer read.
I did not know why I could not really talk about my job with my family and friends. Apart from my colleagues nobody could really understand.
Private jokes that cannot be heard by anyone else was a way to let the tensions go, but they were just denial. Emotionnal toll denial.

More importantly, I was not aware that my vision of the world drastically changed.
I did not realised that my brain did register all the stories to remodel its own worldvision.
A violent, dangerous world.
And then two events took place at the same time.
The 2015 Paris attacks that validated this vision of the world until then kept in distance.
And my first pregnancy.
In my private sphere, there were mood swings, anger and anxiety attacks, self doubt and self loath.
In my professional sphere, I continued to perform. I remained professional, I was doing the job.
I held my pregnancy responsible for my excessive sensitivity.
Parenthood brings its lot of challenges and questionning.

But,
The loss of purposes,
The disempowerment,
The fear of the future,
The tiredness,
The empathy fatigue,
Those were symptoms of secondary ( or indirect) post traumatic stress.

Labelling it with a pretty name, putting a diagnose on somewhat latent emotional state is nice but so what ?
What I am doing with that now?
What does it mean?

How do I live my life ? how to I deal with life events, with my relationships, having a family?
Does it mean I shall quit my job, my career, my vocation ?
How can I deal with the shame of failure, of not managing it all, how do I cope with this unconfortable, painful sometimes unbearable emotional state?

To all these questions, I want to answer YES, NO , MAYBE...
Because I do not have THE answer.
Or at least I do not have YOUR answer. The one that suits you best.

Your anwser, we look for it together

In becoming aware of your behavioral conditionnings and patterns
In clearing your mind, your thoughts
In opting for new perspectives, new beliefs.
In identifying situations that put your nervous system in hypervigilance and survival mode.
Without judgement, without blaming yourself.
In learning to welcome your inconfortable emotions without overdrinking them away, overeating them away, overTVbinging away, overshopping away.
In short all addictive behaviours that give you instant, futile, anesthetsic pleasure with a taste of guiltyness.

What I do know is that session after session, you feel better.

You learn to tame your anxiety.
You understand your leverages and your strenghts. You trust yourself more, you’re amazed yourself, you unconditionnaly love yourself.
You opt again for your vocational career without loosing the meaning of it again .
Or you quit, without feeling guilty. Either or it will be your decision and you’ll love it.
You know how to take care of yourself, even under acute stress.
You learn again to learn, to fix yourself new gentle and compassionate objectives,
Free from your fears, your stress, your people pleasing reflex , your fear of missing out, your self doubt.

Don’t wait anylonger