Charis welcomes Farzana Doctor in conversation with Dr. B. Nilaja Green for a discussion of 52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life for Caregivers, Activists and Helping Professionals: A Workbook of Emotional Hacks, Self-Care Experiments and Other Good Ideas, a practical guide to self-care and community care, written for helpers--the caregivers, activists, community leaders, mental health and medical professionals who are the first to help others, but the last to seek help themselves.

As an activist, community organizer and social worker, Farzana Doctor has preached self-care to hundreds of people struggling with burnout and exhaustion. But for years she couldn't manage to take her own advice.

Many other helpers she knew were the same: they knew the signs of burnout, and they understood the science of self-care. Maybe they'd taken workshops on vicarious trauma; maybe they'd even taught them. But still they struggled to escape the cycle of overwork, overwhelm and recovery. 52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life is a workbook that speaks directly to these people--and anyone who struggles to pause, set boundaries and centre their own needs.

The workbook contains fifty-two lessons, one for each week of the year. Each week, readers will find a simple new idea and an experiment for trying it out, with deeper dives into the material provided, but every level of participation celebrated. Throughout, Doctor embraces both community care and self-care at the same time, showing readers the overlap between the two.

Beautifully written, direct and insightful, this workbook is a gentle and practical guide to a more balanced life, written for those who need it most.

Farzana Doctor is a Tkaronto-based author, activist and psychotherapist. She’s written four novels: Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement, All Inclusive, and Seven, and a poetry collection, You Still Look The Same. Her new self- and community care workbook for helpers and activists—52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life—has just been released. In 2023, Farzana received the prestigious Freedom To Read Award. Look out for her forthcoming YA novel, The Beauty of Us, in September 2024. Learn more at  www.Linktr.ee/farzanadoctor

Dr. B. Nilaja Green writes, speaks and engages at the intersections of individual psychological distress and collective sociocultural oppression. As an Atlanta based Licensed Clinical & Community Psychologist, Dr. Green is certified in trauma informed care and delivering specialized culturally responsive trauma treatments to vulnerable populations such as military veterans, Black women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community through her integrative mental health care practice, Standpoint Wellness. She has engaged in several community level initiatives, including collaborating with the mayor of East Point, in Atlanta to create community level conversations addressing, issues of race, class, history and equity. Having made appearances on several podcasts and in print media, Dr. Green strives to share her message of culturally relevant, holistic mental health practice on various platforms. In service to her profession, she supervises, writes, leads workshops and trainings asking clinicians to cultivate their own radical introspective practice and to approach care of clients with greater cultural humility.

In addition to her formal training and years of clinical experience, Dr. Green has also incorporated her love of creative writing and journaling into her clinical work. In service to the community, she created an award winning, community writing group for healers that ran for four years in the Atlanta area, out of which she has developed The Radical Introspection Method for Therapists and trainees. As a foundation for her career, Dr. Green received a B.A. in English & Psychology from Georgetown University and her doctoral degree in clinical and community psychology from Georgia State University. She completed her internship and postdoctoral training at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry in New Haven, CT. She has been featured in the AJC and made appearances in the Huffington Post and Teen Vogue as well as on several podcasts addressing trauma, racial justice and the Strong Black woman paradigm. She is the creator of Introspective Journal, an innovative tool to help therapists take better care of themselves, deepen self-awareness and create masterful therapy. In addition to managing her practice, she holds an adjunct professor role at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. She currently lives in Atlanta with her spouse and their stubborn older dog, Bean and new puppy JB. She can be reached here: drbnilaja@standpointwellness.com; www.standpointwellness.com

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52 Weeks to a Sweeter Life for Caregivers, Activists and Helping Professionals: Farzana Doctor in conversation with Dr. B. Nilaja Green