RESILIENCE AND RADICAL HOPE FOR ACTIVISTS

Join us to learn how to stay engaged for the long haul and live from a place of possibility and hope for the 2026 election cycle.

In this workshop, we will explore strategies to help us stay steady and resilient by briefly exploring:

This program is for new and experienced activists who want to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit as they engage in effective action to make a positive difference in these times. Led by experience mental health professionals and activists, we will go through exercises and provide resources for your resiliency.

Presenter Bios:

During the height of the AIDS epidemic, Kevin Berrill, LICSW  pioneered national campaigns to counter anti-gay violence and to organize LGBTQ university students. Later, as a clinical social worker, he counseled patients facing cancer, as well as the dying and bereaved. Over the past decade, Kevin has volunteered his time to raise money and canvass voters on behalf of progressive candidates.

Robert Ortega completed his BA at Georgetown University and received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Oregon. He has published research in the fields of critical consciousness and his dissertation explored the relationship between political action behaviors and mental health symptoms. He is an expert in the relationship between mental health symptoms and sociopolitical stressors. Dr. Ortega regularly gives training to mental health clinicians on how to treat people navigating political stress, as well as how to treat burnout among community activists.

Deb Rubenstein, PhD, LICSW, has been a social worker in the Washington, DC area for over 30 years. Now mostly retired, she has been a care manager, psychotherapist, support group facilitator and program manager at a nonprofit serving older adults and family caregivers. Deb is a joyful participant in protests and vigils, an enthusiastic donor to good causes, and a reluctant phone-banker.