Overwhelmed ― Strategies for the Long Haul

Whether we are overwhelmed by work or school, our families or communities, engagement in social justice, environmental advocacy or civil service, caretaking for others or ourselves, there are many ways that overwhelm impacts our ability to show up and make our way through the world. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, bestselling author of Trauma Stewardship, takes on the state of overwhelm engulfing so many people in our local and global communities and offers Overwhelmed to provide the guidance we need to sustain for the long haul.

In ways big and small, we are all responsible for contributing to systemic change where change is due. There is plenty of heavy lifting to be done. But to contribute effectively--to have a foundation to manage that at all--we must tend to our own selves in parallel. We simply can't contribute skillfully and do our best work out in the world if we aren't also taking care of the place where we have the most agency, authority, and capacity to change: Within ourselves.

It is indescribably powerful and dignity-preserving to focus on what one can do instead of what one can't do. Overwhelmed shows us how to pay attention to what's in our individual control and what's in our collective control, and how to tend to both of these realities--practically--in such a way as to mitigate harm, cultivate our ability to be decent and equitable, and to act with integrity. Written with compassion for people short on time, resources, and capacity, Overwhelmed offers a "less is more" framework to help ease the burden of overwhelm, restore our perspective, and give us strength to navigate what is yet to come.

Laura van Dernoot Lipsky is the founder and director of The Trauma Stewardship Institute and author of Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others. Previously Laura was the founder and director of a Spanish-language preschool and grade school enrichment program that offers an environmental and social-justice curriculum and has worked directly with trauma survivors for more than three decades. Laura works with organizations as a consultant and gives keynote talks. In addition, The Trauma Stewardship Institute sponsors several national workshops and retreats and remains actively involved in disaster response missions.