Social worker and therapist Dr. Heather Evans, a global expert on trauma healing and post-traumatic growth, addressed the second plenary session of THI’s 2025 Global Community of Practice gathering. She helped normalize the reality of secondary trauma, and offered simple and powerful practices for caring well for ourselves—that our ministry might continue to bear fruit. This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

With years of experience training trauma healing facilitators all over the world, psychologist Philip G. Monroe knows just how hard it can be for people called to this ministry to be compassionate with themselves. After offering some tips for knowing when it’s time to prioritize self-care, Dr. Monroe wanted to share these suggestions for doing just that.

Healing group facilitators are not immune to trauma, grief, and loss of our own. Sometimes, as we help others find healing in Jesus, we can forget the importance of caring well for ourselves. Psychologist Philip G. Monroe, THI’s long-time Advisory Council Chair and co-founder of the Global Trauma Recovery Institute, shares encouragement and counsel about self-care for facilitators.