RELATIONSHIP GRIT

Hello. My name is Monica Strachan. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with twenty-seven years of experience, I have had the pleasure of working with thousands of children, youth, families and community members. I have been truly inspired by the resiliency, also known as GRIT, of individuals and families, especially when facing loss and crisis. However, I also found myself dealing with Vicarious Trauma, when one is distressed and drained due to the empathy for and impact of the stories I would hear each day... In 2015, I found that my energy level outside of work was very low. I was raising my own teenagers, my job continued to grow more challenging and my father, who had suffered for years from Lou Gehrig's Disease had passed away. I have been blessed with kind and supportive friends, but I was not enjoying myself and, due to an injury, I was unable to exercise, which had always been an outlet for me.