The Media Policy Institute held the three-day off-site event called «Working out emotional burnout among journalists” from March 17 to 20. Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan provided financial support for the project. The event brought together 25 media representatives from different regions of Kyrgyzstan in the country guesthouse «Ashuu.»
Elena Kosterina, a psychologist-trainer and associate professor of the Department of Psychology at AUCA, and Zhibek Kenzhebaeva, a master’s student at AUCA, conducted a two-day psychological training for participants in Kyrgyz and Russian languages.
The year 2020 was full of different events for Kyrgyzstan: a pandemic, social restrictions and an unstable political situation. Journalists were among those who fought on the front line along with doctors and enforcement authorities. They fought for the truth, justice and stood up for the people during difficult times. Certainly, the consequences of these events affected both their mental and emotional health.
“Journalists work 24/7 and constant stress depletes emotionally, and getting out of this crisis is not always possible,” — shares a journalist at “Kaktus Media” Aidana Abduvaitova.
“The past year has been difficult for journalists, both psychologically and emotionally. Coronavirus pandemic, quarantine, political events in Kyrgyzstan, unclearness — all this should be reflected in the soul, whether we like it or not,” – shares her conclusion the founder and editor-in-chief of PolitKlinika Dilbar Alimova.
Therefore, the purpose of the event was to provide psychological support for journalists after the events of last year.
On the first day, participants got to know each other, they determined the meaning of “emotional burnout”, passed a test for its presence, reviewed of prevention methods, did yoga on the chair and some interactive messages about mindfulness and acceptance.
On the second day, they were busy identifying personal goals, values and their connection to their chosen profession and learned some self-help skills.
“Participation in such a training is a step towards preventing burnout for participants, as self care is a necessary part of self-development, especially for journalists as representatives of professions associated with stress and frequent work with people. The participants helped make the training even more lively and productive than we could have planned, it is a pleasure to work with such an audience. Although the difficulties faced by journalists cannot be resolved with a one-time training, we have all taken out a lot of food for thought from these days, — says the trainer of the course Elena Kosterina.
“The seminar was very intense. They tried to teach us (journalists of different editorial offices) the practices that help to avoid emotional burnout in such a short time (3 days). This is about what to do with non-constructive thoughts that interfere with life and work, and about how to cope with emotions, and about much more than that, « — writes Yulia Kuleshova, a journalist of the “April” TV Channel.
The participants trained not only to increase their level of stress resistance, but also to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city. The relaxation program was quite intense too: they engaged in horse riding, yoga, drawing and simply enjoyed the solitude with nature.
”We not only learned how to deal with stress using meditation techniques, art therapy, but also had a great time in the fresh air, riding horses, watching interesting movies together, » – Dilbar Alimova shares her impressions on Facebook page.
The participants also shared their stories that they experienced during a difficult period in their careers. One of the participants — Yulia Kuleshova noted this moment:
“When you see your colleagues from another editorials and you find out that they faced the same events as you, that they were also in the verge or in the state close to it or when you learn that they were tormented by the same thoughts – you rather understand that you are not alone.”
At the end of the event, the participants expressed their admiration and gratitude to the organizers, who helped them have a good time, helped them learn to love and appreciate themselves and their profession when it is needed the most.
“Once again last year, the demand for journalists increased and our last training strengthened our love for our cause! Thanks to the organizers for the support, motivation and advice!»- writes host of “Kyrgyz Azattyk Unalgysy”, Aigerim Akylbekova.
A three-day off-site event organized by the Media Policy Institute and the Soros Foundation Kyrgyzstan helped 25 journalists from all over the country to improve and strengthen their mental health after the numerous events of 2020. «Working out emotional burnout in journalists» helped the participants to take a break from work, to learn about ways to deal with stress and to spend some time enjoying nature.
Nurai Ozaeva
