Hello and welcome to Being Well, I'm Forest Hanson.

If you're new to the podcast, this is where we explore the practical science of lasting

well-being.

And if you've listened before, welcome back.

There's often more than enough stress in our own lives, but these days it feels like

we have much more than our own lives to worry about.

There is so much going on out in the world that's worthy of our attention, our compassion,

our support, and our engagement.

And that caring that give a shit factor is a beautiful thing.

It's how movements are perpetuated, it's how changes made, it's how we improve society

as a whole.

But there are also costs to our ever more connected, always on society, to the seemingly constant

barrage of suffering that we're always just a few clicks away from.

Repeated exposure to the pain of others, which is sometimes referred to as secondary traumatic

stress, adds up in our system over time.

It wears us down, and it diminishes our ability to contribute in a positive way.

So the trick then is to learn how to stay present, open, and engaged without, to quote today's

guest, surrendering the ability to live fully.

Today I'm joined by the founder and director of the Trauma Stewardship Institute, Laura

Vanderneut Lipski.

Laura is the author of the wonderful books Trauma Stewardship and Everyday Guide to caring

for self-hull caring for others and her newest book The Age of Overwhelm, Strategies for

...