Dear Guardian, Let’s start with a guy’s words — those tend to carry more weight than those of a woman, right? — : Jackson Katz says the term ‘violence against women’ is ‘a passive construction, there’s no active agent in the sentence…nobody is doing it to them. It just happens…

Altruism is good, right? After all, it’s what, in the world of doing good, we’re here for — we’re here to help, in service of other beings and the planet. Not so fast, says Joan Halifax with her book ‘Standing at the Edge’: There is a dark side to altruism. …

Can the suffering of others make us sick, what are the symptoms, and what can be done about it? That’s what GP turned executive coach Rachel Morris and I talked about for this new episode of her podcast You Are Not A Frog: What we are talking about when we…

From a young age, I knew I wanted to ‘do good’ for a living. And so I became a helper, an altruist, here to change the world — an advocate on behalf of people less fortunate than me. …

Against common preconceptions, it is possible to involve ourselves emotionally and keep our sanity when serving people and planet in difficult contexts. In many ways, it’s vital that we do. …

Join me for Sustained Compassion— an introduction to the practice and neuroscience of overcoming compassion fatigue and its relatives. I will be offering a free, 5 week online programme to support you in developing skills to overcome compassion fatigue, caregiver burnout and their relatives. This programme is for you if any of the following applies to you: In your work, you are in any way confronted with the suffering…

Many of us who’ve committed our lives to a social or humanitarian cause will often be adamant that we see all human beings as equal. The uncomfortable truth is none of us really do. Biology and our culture have programmed difference into us. If our constant ‘othering’ is the problem…

In professions routinely confronted with suffering, it is common belief that we have a choice between emotional shutdown and emotional breakdown. But neither is a viable strategy. Neuroscience sheds light on a tried and tested alternative that can be practiced by anyone and transforms how we respond. Empathy can plunge…

We routinely look away from pain and disillusionment in our efforts to do good. Joanna Macy’s seminal work sheds some light on the reasons for and cost of sticking our heads in the sand, and why allowing ourselves to be in pain is so vital. I’ve had many conversations lately…