The first audiences to hear about the material in Fighting for Their Lives were those who attended the session on "How Should Communities Respond to Those Harmed by the Death Penalty?" at last year's International Institute for Restorative Practices conference, and, some months afterward, the law students who attended a training offered by Amicus - Assisting Lawyers for Justice on Death Row, Both groups were clearly interested in the excerpts that they heard and were eager for more.
I then had the opportunity to talk further about the material, and the issues it raises, with the others who chose to sit at the "trauma table" at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in March. The symposium offers the useful feature of special-interest tables at meals, so that you can easily find others who want to talk about what you want to talk about. Yes, it could be said that it's a strange group that voluntarily sits at the trauma table, but I've found the conversations at that table to be reliably fascinating. It was exciting to talk with these folks, who felt like colleagues in the deep sense of the term, about what it had been like to interview capital defense attorneys about their emotional experience of the work. Others at the table who had engaged in related explorations -- like the one who facilitates a group for medical professionals to talk about the impact of their work -- were intrigued by the areas of overlap in what we were observing and thinking about.
I'm looking forward to more opportunities to talk about these experiences and ideas in the coming months.
I then had the opportunity to talk further about the material, and the issues it raises, with the others who chose to sit at the "trauma table" at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in March. The symposium offers the useful feature of special-interest tables at meals, so that you can easily find others who want to talk about what you want to talk about. Yes, it could be said that it's a strange group that voluntarily sits at the trauma table, but I've found the conversations at that table to be reliably fascinating. It was exciting to talk with these folks, who felt like colleagues in the deep sense of the term, about what it had been like to interview capital defense attorneys about their emotional experience of the work. Others at the table who had engaged in related explorations -- like the one who facilitates a group for medical professionals to talk about the impact of their work -- were intrigued by the areas of overlap in what we were observing and thinking about.
I'm looking forward to more opportunities to talk about these experiences and ideas in the coming months.
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