New support groups at Danielsen Institute

Our colleagues at the Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute at Boston University have announced new support groups for chaplains and others. Read more about the Danielsen support groups below:

The COVID-19 pandemic, systemic oppression, and collective trauma are just a few of many national and global crises facing our world today, which have taken a unique existential toll on psychotherapists, chaplains, and clergy who are on the frontlines of offering support. Do you know anyone who is feeling taxed as a helping professional? Seeking opportunities for self-reflection, personal growth, or connection with others in their field?

We at Boston University’s Albert and Jessie Danielsen Institute are excited to have developed an empirically-based personal and professional formation program designed specifically to address helping professionals’ sense of burnout and vicarious trauma.

This free 8-week online program for psychotherapists, chaplains, and clergy, including group and individual formats, will include opportunities to:

  • Process the psychological, emotional, relational, and spiritual/existential impacts of companioning others amidst trauma and suffering
  • Identify and develop personal capacities and culturally embedded strengths to metabolize these impacts in order to build resilience and thrive as a whole person
  • Reflect on intersectional identities, life experiences, and core values, and how these inform work
  • Interrogate and resist personal, relational, and systemic pressures that are counter to well-being, while working toward systemic change.

As part of a randomized intervention study, participation will help us better understand the unique needs of helping professionals in today’s world and refine and evaluate this novel online program in order to promote thriving and flourishing. Financial compensation (up to $60) is available for the completion of self-assessment measures and program feedback surveys.

Interested individuals can click here to complete a brief interest form, and we will be in touch with you shortly with further information.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Steven Sandage, the Principal Investigator of the study, at ssandage@bu.edu.

Thank you for your time and consideration.