Trauma can get Stuck in the System

Mark Brayne

Western journalism has now largely accepted that journalists should be trained for hostile environments before going to cover conflict and war. The Rory Peck Trust has helped extend that culture to the world of freelancers.

But what of their emotional wellbeing? If the big companies have, increasingly, internal training and external counselling on tap, what can freelancers do when they’re having a rocky time after too much exposure to violence?

The Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma has been working on options. The conclusions are fairly simple. Feeling emotionally wobbly after a traumatic experience or assignment is, first of all, not abnormal and things usually begin to feel a lot better within a few weeks.

But trauma can get stuck in the system, and there should be no stigma in acknowledging that. Freelancers might learn to keep an eye on themselves and their team mates, and watch out for symptoms of distress that don’t fade after a month or so. If that’s the case, then better to seek professional help.

The Dart Centre has arranged with a number of Britain’s leading counselling providers for brief help on the telephone and, if the caller wishes for referral, to a specialist. The companies all have long experience of working with journalists, and include BUPA, CiC, Focus, and Clarity Advisers.

The Dart Centre is more a network than an organisation, so do get in touch (www.dartcentre.org) and be part of the discussion about this critically important, but for so long unnamed, aspect of the work journalists do.

Mark Brayne is the Director Europe, Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma

The Rory Peck Awards Brochure 2004

• Programme
• Why Freelancers Matter
• A Year of Growth...
• ...and Freelance Achievement
• From Sony
• The Overseas Project
• Reporting Iraq
• The Freelance World
  An Iraqi in Iraq
  An American in Iraq
  In Pakistan
  In Haiti
  In Zimbabwe
• Report on Safety Training Course
• Trauma can get stuck in the system
• For Roddy - and Helping Others

The Rory Peck Awards

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• Finalists

  
  

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