Occupational Identity Management Part 3
RAFT Team, September 1, 2022
Jeremie and Johnanna conclude their discussion on occupational identity, a state of identifying closely with one's job. Join RAFT as we learn about how to manage this identity in mission-driven fields, such as SV/DV advocacy.
Episode Time Codes
0:00 Intro
0:26 Johanna shares signs that work relationships might be switching from healthy and functional to unhealthy and dysfunctional
3:00 Discussion about "venting" at work. Johanna shares what "venting" can be reflective of and the harms of venting.
4:55 How to get out of a "venting" mindset: Being a "challenger-listener" vs. "supportive-listener"
6:50 Discussion
7:30 The difference between a feeling and an interpretation of a feeling
8:23 Discussion about interpretations of feelings and how interpretations of feelings show up at work and in everyday life
12:15 Johanna shares tips for feeling less bad about taking time off by focusing on developing a healthy occupational identity
15:45 How time off and rest helps prevent burnout
17:30 Learning to take time off and not feel guilty for it is like training a muscle
18:05 Experiencing a toxic workplace vs. overidentifying with one's work, which is leading to a toxic view of that work
18:30 Definition of toxic workplace
19:50 Example of someone who overidentifies with their work vs. someone who is experiencing a toxic workplace
22:30 Should advocates serve fewer survivors as a way to maintain a healthier work environment and avoid burnout? Jeremie and Johanna discuss this question and how overidentification with one's work might impact this.
26:06 How overidentification with one's work might influence advocates to see survivors as more fragile than they really are
29:10 How focusing on good actions rather than outcomes helps create a healthy occupational identity
33:07 What happens when one attaches their worth to the outcome of their actions
34:50 How advocates transitioning out of the SV/DV field with a strong occupational identity can successfully adapt to a new role where they do not have such a strong occupational identity
36:59 Preventing overidentification with new job
38:00 Reframing the value that your job provides you
40:05 Johanna shares her experience with disconnecting her sense of self from her work: Leaving an SV/DV role, how she managed burnout and the sense of identity loss.
42:41 Discussion
44:30 Johanna shares tips for advocates transitioning out of the SV/DV field who have burnt out and are coping with the loss or grief of no longer doing work that they strongly identify with
50:30 Outro
