Recommended resource guide
by Ruth Gottfried
Foreword by Ginny Sprang
Compassion-Based Practices for Secondary Traumatic Stress by Ruth Gottfried is a comprehensive guide that merges profound theoretical insights with practical compassion-based practices. Tailored for helping professionals working with survivors of trauma, this resource illuminates a path toward addressing secondary traumatic stress and promoting vicarious posttraumatic growth through a compassionate lens. Distinguished by its in-depth and hands-on creative approach, inclusion of East Asian philosophical principles, and harmonization of self- and other-oriented compassion, this resource guide provides empowering tools for helping professionals from diverse fields of practice and their host organizations.
Bio
Ruth Gottfried, PhD, is a dance movement therapist, supervisor, and senior lecturer at the David Yellin Academic College in Jerusalem, Israel, where she serves as Head of the Master’s Degree Program in Dance Movement Therapy. In addition, Ruth teaches at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Along with her work in Israel, Ruth is a consultant for the Secondary Traumatic Stress Innovations and Solutions Center (STS-ISC) at the University of Kentucky’s Center on Trauma and Children (CTAC). Ruth’s professional journey showcases her commitment to continuous growth and expertise. Having successfully completed her graduate studies in dance movement therapy at the University of Haifa, Ruth carried out two postdoctoral appointments focusing on STS at Tel Aviv and Georgia State Universities – with the latter appointment supported by a Haruv Institute postdoctoral fellowship. Moreover, Ruth is currently pursuing a second PhD at Tel Aviv University’s Department of East Asian Studies, focusing on compassion from a Buddhist perspective.
Reviews
“I am very pleased to offer my endorsement and extend a warm welcome to Ruth Gottfried’s compassionate framework for addressing secondary traumatic stress. Ruth’s fresh and useful new approach provides valuable guidance to professionals dealing with secondary traumatic stress, compassionately empowering them to regain their life balance.”
Charles R. Figley, PhD
The Tulane University Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair in Disaster Mental Health
& director of the Tulane University Traumatology Institute
Featured illustrations from the book
Illustrated by Vicky Alvarez
River Crossing
Figure crossing a river in a small boat
Precious Gem
Figure uncovering an illuminated gem symbolizing compassion
Mother Nature
A nature scene overlooking a lake
The resource guide features additional hand-drawn watercolor illustrations beautifully illuminating a compassionate journey
Training
As an Ambassador of Applied Compassion, certified through the flagship program at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE), Ruth Gottfried facilitates the Compassion for Secondary Traumatic Stress (CSTS) training program for organizational leaders and helping professionals across diverse fields of practice working with individuals who have experienced trauma. She likewise conducts teacher trainings for group leaders wishing to facilitate the CSTS program within their professional networks.
For more information about CSTS training options, please contact Ruth Gottfried below
compassion takes flight,
guided by wisdom’s insight:
two wings of a bird