When Times Get Tough, We Turn To Community

By Jeanine Rousso, LCMHC, LPC, ACS

TRN Founder

This past weekend marked the two year anniversary of Hurricane Helene which unexpectedly devastated Western North Carolina where I live. My Instagram feed has been overwhelmed with traumatic memories that I quickly scroll past because it’s hard to look at (ain’t nobody got time to be retraumatized like that!). We are still recovering here, things will never be the same as they were, but this community is strong and resilient. One of the things I remember fondly about two years ago is how we all came together to work towards a common goal–helping each other without competition or ego. And that spirit is still present today.

Community is what brings us together in our toughest times and what makes us stronger. It gives us a louder voice when things are not as they should be. It gives us the bandwidth to take care of each other and the power to make change. Community is connection.

Recently, I was a guest on the My Therapist Said podcast. The last question the host, Stefanie Kral, asked was what therapists can do to make our field a better place. My answer was that we need to come together to support each other in this field. We need to build our referral networks so we can keep clients supported by therapists who are the best fit for them. We need to show kindness and understanding in our online forums. We need to share resources and information freely. We need to show up for each other and with each other to build community.

Look at these community members supporting each other! Warms the heart.

Here at TRN, we are building a community of therapists. As we continue to grow and change our programming, we intend to keep everything free of charge for therapists. The one thing we ask of therapists is that you share our work and our community with your colleagues. Ask that they join our free community. When you join the Therapist Resource Network Community, you’ll immediately receive our toolkit of resources to your inbox. You also will receive our monthly newsletter, which always contains a couple of free resources for therapists as well as information for our upcoming events (burnout prevention workshops and therapist support circles). If there’s something else you’d like to see us offer or you want to get involved with our work, please email us!

We are so grateful for each and every member of this community. You matter, and we are so lucky to have you here.