Resisting Burnout & Vicarious Trauma & the Zone of Fabulousness – Vikki Reynolds - Dec 2025

Vikki will differentiate Vicarious Trauma & Burn Out from the spiritual and ethical pain that our work engenders when we are unable to provide dignity and social justice with the people we want to be useful to. We'll explore our relationship to a believed-in hope, and resisting patronizing self-care prescriptions to workers. We will also consider a frame for Resisting Burn out that holds clients at the centre, based on how we treat people, and resist pathologizing ourselves and other workers as mentally ill and deficient...and that's going to bring us to The Zone of Fabulousness...Where we resist enmeshment and disconnection, and hold connection, collective ethics and the person at the centre of our work. 

Vikki Reynolds (PhD RCC) is an activist/ therapist and community organizer who works to bridge the worlds of social justice activism with community work and therapy. Vikki is a white settler on the territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations. Vikki's people are Irish and English folks, and she is a heterosexual woman with cisgender privilege. Her experience includes supervision and therapy with People with Lived/Living Experience and other workers responding to the drug poisoning catastrophe, refugees and survivors of torture - including Indigenous people who have survived residential schools and other state violence, sexualized violence counsellors, mental health and substance misuse counsellors, housing and shelter workers, activists and working alongside gender and sexually diverse communities. Vikki has taught as an Adjunct Professor and has written and presented internationally. Articles & speaks free at: www.vikkireynolds.ca 

Learning Outcomes:

Workshop Learning Outcome include:  

• Distinguish between vicarious trauma and burnout, including associated spiritual and ethical pain. 

• Understand Collective Care and its role in preventing workplace burnout. 

• Explore hope’s significance and ways to nurture a positive outlook. 

• Develop client-centered strategies to resist burnout through compassionate care. 

• Discover practical tools to achieve fulfillment in ‘The Zone of Fabulousness’ 

Event Details:

Session One: Thursday, 4th December 2025
Session Two: Friday, 5th December 2025

Time: 9:30am - 12:30pm AEST (both days)
Location: Online

Participants are required to attend both days

Who should attend

Leaders, Practitioners, Allied Services Staff and workforce across QLD’s specialist DFV, Sexual Violence and Women’s Health and Wellbeing sector organisations. 

Workforce across the service types of the target group would benefit from this training as it provides direct engagement with frameworks and ethics supporting collaboration, connection and wellbeing in client-centred work. This “Zone of Fabulousness” fosters sustainability and justice-doing in critical gender-based community support.

This event is capped to thirty attendees to support meaningful engagement with Vikki across the two days.

Due to very high interest, and to ensure the specialist DFV, sexual violence and women’s health and wellbeing sector workforce state-wide have opportunity to attend, tickets will be limited to three registrations per organisation.

For organisations who have registered more than three staff - if the event becomes waitlisted, you may be asked to reduce your attendees to three. We will contact you directly should this occur.

About the presenter

Vikki  Reynolds
Vikki Reynolds (PhD RCC) is an activist/ therapist and community organizer who works to bridge the worlds of social justice activism with community work and therapy. Vikki is a white settler on the territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam nations. Vikki's people are Irish and English folks, and she is a heterosexual woman with cisgender privilege. Her experience includes supervision and therapy with People with Lived/Living Experience and other workers responding to the drug poisoning catastrophe, refugees and survivors of torture - including Indigenous people who have survived residential schools and other state violence, sexualized violence counsellors, mental health and substance misuse counsellors, housing and shelter workers, activists and working alongside gender and sexually diverse communities. Vikki has taught as an Adjunct Professor and has written and presented internationally. Articles & speaks free at: www.vikkireynolds.ca