Emotional Labor Is Real—Changing the Culture of Care: One Team at a Time

Over the past month, I had the profound honor of facilitating a Professional Development Day for the dedicated staff of the New York State Department of Developmental Disabilities (DDD). Our focus was on something often left unspoken in the world of human services: the hidden emotional toll of this work—namely, emotional labor and moral distress.

This work is deeply personal. It calls for empathy, consistency, and often, self-sacrifice. And yet, few are given the space or tools to name what that ongoing emotional output costs them—or how to care for themselves while continuing to serve others.

Last week in Binghamton, I had the privilege of working with their largest group to date—over 250 people—each one committed not only to professional growth, but to showing up for themselves and their colleagues in deeper, more meaningful ways.

The Focus: Awareness and Restoration

Our time together centered on building awareness of how trauma responses, chronic stress, and moral dilemmas show up in day-to-day interactions. More importantly, we explored how to respond with compassion—to ourselves and each other.

Participants created personalized self-care and peer support menus, practical tools designed to help navigate difficult moments with greater connection and intention. These weren’t generic tips—they were reflections of real-life strategies participants could implement immediately, including:

• Asking for help—without guilt

• Taking walks with a pet to decompress

• Journaling to release emotional residue

• Smiling (even a fake one!) to calm the nervous system

• Power posing before challenging conversations

• Checking in with their “people tree” of trusted supports

• Scheduling peer support as a weekly ritual

Each of these tools is a small act of resistance against burnout—and a step toward sustainable service.

Culture Change in Action

What made this day especially powerful was that the commitment to change was supported at every level. Leadership, including Donnovan Beckford and his team, modeled vulnerability and vision—proving that culture change only works when it flows from both the top down and the bottom up.

As I prepare to facilitate their upcoming virtual staff development day, I’m reminded how essential it is for organizations to name the emotional realities of this work—and to equip their people with real, relational tools for navigating it.

Your Turn

If your organization is ready to move beyond surface-level morale boosters and dig into the real work of building resilience, I’d love to support you. Whether in-person or virtually, Silver Linings International offers customized staff development experiences that:

• Strengthen emotional intelligence

• Promote collective care

• Equip teams with actionable well-being practices

📩 Reach out if you're curious about bringing this kind of professional development to your team.

Together, we can change the culture of care—one conversation, one workshop, one brave team at a time.