Author Archives: Alessandra Pigni
Mindfulness in Ramallah
Friday April 15th, 2011: a very sad day for many following the murder of the Italian volunteer Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza. On that very same day I had scheduled a mindfulness session for humanitarian aid workers in Ramallah (West Bank). … Continue reading
Aid Worker: First, Know Thyself
“Self-awareness is the first step in transformation so if you are interested in becoming a better aid worker, the process starts with you”. From How Matters here is a thought-provoking post on the importance for aid workers to develop awareness. by Jennifer Lentfer The … Continue reading
Moving away from Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
I have been keeping this post in the pipeline for a few weeks, before the earthquake in Japan, and before the revolution in Libya kicked off. It’s been sitting in my head for a long time, probably since my time … Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged aid workers' mental health
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Burnout and Meaning
The psychologist Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz and came out as an inspiring individual from that horrendous experience. His extraordinary quality came from his connection to some profound existential meaning in his life. Meaning is what makes things possible and beautiful, and … Continue reading
Mindfulness and ‘doing good’
What’s the link between practicing mindfulness and ‘doing good’? Let’s look at people who work in the humanitarian sector: aid workers have no time to sit and meditate. Or maybe it is the ‘hyper-active’ culture of their organisations that does … Continue reading
Staff Care: Economic? Legal? Ethical?
Impressions from the People in Aid 2012 HHR Conference June 15, 2012 Following 8 months in Palestine and an intense and very interesting Humanitarian HR Conference in Amsterdam, I’m now back in Oxford. Everything is so quiet here. I understand … Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged aid workers' burnout, aid workers' mental health, aid workers' wellbeing, organizational culture in aid
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Cynicism and burnout
While attending on a photo-shoot in London with a group of amateur photographers, I met a woman in her 30s who had been involved in humanitarian work for a number of years. As we chatted over lunch about the challenges … Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged aid workers' burnout, organizational culture in aid
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Mindfulness in conflict-zones
An article about my work using mindfulness-based psychotherapy with Palestinian women. Published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies in 2009. Continue reading
Posted in Letters to the field
Tagged mindfulness for aid workers
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Breaking News! Aid Workers Burnout!
I just landed in the beautiful and crazy land of Israel and Palestine, home of hundreds of NGOs and IGOs, and hot from the press a longitudinal study confirms that aid workers are affected by high levels of psychological distress, depression, anxiety, … Continue reading
Why mindfulness is essential for aid workers
Weh Yeoh of whydev.org on why mindfulness is an essential characteristic of the 21st century’s development professional. Continue reading
Posted in Burnout
Tagged guest posts, mindfulness for aid workers
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