Slide 1

[The introduction slide is titled, Coping With the Impact of Current Events: Ways to Manage Stress, Vicarious Trauma and Feelings of Isolation in Times of Conflict recorded in September 2024. There is a small illustration of a person on a bike, with a large heart tied to their back. On screen is Elizabeth].

ELIZABETH: So, this meeting is going to be recorded. And it's being recorded today, just so everyone knows, so we're excited to have all of you here. This session—Coping with the Impact of Current Events: Ways to Manage Stress, Vicarious Trauma and Feelings of Isolation in Times of Conflict—is being funded and supported by the University of California's Office of the President. A special funding that was provided to address issues of bias and bigotry, but also mostly what I see it as is funding that was provided to help us navigate this world that we live in together and to build that community. 

ELIZABETH (cont’d): So, I'm excited to present to you our speaker for today, who is Dr. Alison Ward. She is a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr. Ward has worked in a variety of professional settings and completed her pre-doctoral internship at the University of Pittsburgh Counseling Center. She has worked as a faculty member at a community college, as a contract psychologist at Sierra Tuscan, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility, and in forensic psychology at the Department of Veteran Affairs. She currently works as a counseling psychologist at the Academic and Staff Assistance Program at UC Davis, and her passion includes teaching people how to incorporate principles of clinical psychology into their everyday lives. 

ELIZABETH (cont’d): And with that, as we get started today, and Dr. Alison Ward is here to provide this to us, as you have questions, please feel free to pop them in the chat. Throughout the presentation, you don't need to wait till the end for Q&A, so if you have any questions, please add them to the chat. You can try raising your hand, and if it's a good spot to stop, we'll make sure that someone unmutes you and gets you to your question. Okay, so with that, I'm excited to turn this over to Dr. Ward.

Slide 2

[On screen is DR. ALISON WARD, who is in their office.]

ALISON: Thank you so much, Elizabeth, and thank you to everyone for attending today. I'm happy to be here. Really, the structure of the presentation will be about 45 minutes of didactic information, talking about ways to cope with, right, stress, kind of effective communication, emotional identification, and then really for the last 15 minutes of the hour, we'll actually do some hands-on exercises that you can all take with you to kind of, you know, modulate your stress response in daily life. I'm excited to be here. I am a clinical psychologist with the Academic and Staff Assistance Program. 

ALISON (cont’d): It is a free counseling resource at the UC Davis campus for all campus faculty, staff, and their dependents over the age of 18 who are living with them. So now let's go ahead and get started, and really at any point, just like Elizabeth said, feel free to ask questions. I want to make this as helpful and as interactive as possible for the group. 

MAYA: Alison, jumping in with something right off the bat, Kelsey in the chat asked what you meant by didactic? 

ALISON: Okay, Kelsey, thanks so much for that question. So I'll talk for about 45 minutes. Didactic, I would say, is basically providing education, specifically psychoeducation on what stress is, how we feel it in the body, the way our thinking patterns change. So it'll just be very informational, I would say, for that first 45 minutes, hands-on for that last 15, and then I'll open it up to questions, and thanks for your question. 

Slide 3

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Addressing Multiple Sources of Conflict. Below are the following bullet points: ‘Intrapersonal conflict: conflict with ourselves, including thoughts, feelings and beliefs; conflict in the US and abroad: political conflict in the U.S., including the upcoming election and conflict overseas; interpersonal conflict: conflict that arises between two or more people.’]

ALISON: So to go ahead and get started today, what I really wanted to do is break down all of the sources of conflict that we're dealing with in our lives. The first one is intrapersonal conflict, and this is, right, something that psychologists love to talk about. It's conflict we have within ourselves. Sometimes we can hold conflicting beliefs, you know, inside or have these experiences that are hard to reconcile. So intrapersonal conflict is conflict we feel just within ourselves. Then what I also want to address is conflict in the United States as well as abroad, right? 

ALISON (cont’d): We are living in very uncertain times politically. We are just a very short time away from a serious United States presidential election, and there's multiple wars overseas. This affects, you know, all of us in some way, and I want to address that. Lastly, I think these two first pieces of conflict then affect us interpersonally. Because there's stress and conflict in the world, it then affects not only our interpersonal relationships, you know, with partners, friends, family, it also affects us on the job with coworkers. So I do want to talk about effective communication at work and setting expectations. 

Slide 4

[On the screen is the next slide, which is titled, Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue and Burnout Are Real and Self Care is Imperative. Below the title is a text in quotes, “The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet.” This quote was stated by Dr. Rachel Remen, a Stanford Medical School Faculty.]

ALISON (cont’d): This next slide is from a Stanford Medical School faculty member, and what it really addresses is, you know, if there's so much suffering around us, how can we not expect to be touched by it? And something I really want to get across is validating what's been going on and everyone's emotions about it, right? This is a complex world, right? We just kind of lived through a pandemic, and of course the pandemic is ongoing, but, you know, we can't be immersed in suffering and not expect to feel its effects, essentially. 

Slide 5

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, National Trends Regarding Stress Post Covid-19. Below is text which says: ‘A Society for Human Resource Management survey of 1,099 employees found that work-related concerns left more than 40 percent of employees feeling hopeless, burned out or exhausted as they grapple with lives altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.’ The following text says: ‘American Psychological Association, Stress in America (ongoing survey): key take-away collective trauma in the nation.’ This is accompanied by the link: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress.] 

ALISON: Just very briefly, a little bit of data about national trends regarding stress post-COVID-19. Trends Society of Human Resources Management surveyed about 1,000 employees and found that about 40 percent of employees were hopeless or burned out as they grappled with their lives altered by COVID-19. So something I want to validate, and I hear a lot about in my everyday work as an employee assistance counselor, is burnout is something that's very real, right? When COVID hit in 2020, everyone, I think for the most part, was a trooper, kept on working through a very stressful emergency situation, and it also altered the way that we worked, which could change, you know, the meaning that our job held for us, the way we interacted with others. 

ALISON (cont’d): And so burnout happened not only during COVID, but it's a serious concern at the current time. The World Health Organization just kind of classified burnout, you know, as it recognized it as a condition. So I want to validate for all of you, as you do the great work that you do, that burnout is very real. And then lastly, the American Psychological Association, they did a key takeaway on collective trauma in the nation. Not only during the COVID-19 pandemic did we have hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime health emergency, but there were serious issues with social justice that we saw play out on the news every day. There was political unrest that we saw play out. And again, right now, things going on politically at home and overseas. So there really is this collective trauma in the nation. 

Slide 6

[On screen is the next slide, which is titled, Types of Stress. Below is the heading, Primary Stress, which has three bullet points: ‘Defined set of criteria: symptoms, impairment in functioning, specific timeframes; Stress that you experience personally; Stress from relationships/life transitions. Another heading is, Secondary Stress, which has three bullets: compassion fatigue; burn out; and vicarious trauma.’]

ALISON: I'll pivot a little bit now to talk about types of stress. I actually like to look at stress in two different ways. Primary stress is stress that happens to you directly. And I'm sure everyone knows this piece that, you know, even good stress, the birth of a child, right, you know, moving, even good things can cause stress. So primary stress is something that affects you directly and causes you stress. Secondary stress, however, is something that comes about either from your work or ways of interacting with people. And I want to talk a bit about compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma. And if anyone has any questions, I'm happy to answer them. 

Slide 7

[On screen is the next slide, which has three main headings. The first is Compassion Fatigue: Related to working with the emotions of others. Below this are bullet points: ‘chronic, physical, and emotional exhaustion; depersonalization, irritability; feelings of inequity toward the therapeutic or caregiver relationship; gradual desensitization to patient stories, numbness; poor job satisfaction; and demonstrating apathy, lack of interest.’ The second heading is Burn Out: Related to overall career satisfaction. Below this are bullet points: ‘irritability, anger, isolation, hopelessness; fatigue, sleep disruptions, weight changes; cynicism and detachment, feeling inadequate or ineffective; lack of interest/motivation, increased absences; develops over time, progressive loss of energy and goals; and prolonged exposed to demanding environment.’ The third heading is Vicarious Trauma: Reactions are similar to trauma responses (typically acute onset and resolves if responded to appropriately). Below are the bullet points: ‘shock, denial, confusion; sadness, hopelessness, guilt or shame; difficulty with concentration and decision making; emotional sensitivity, hyper arousal, flashbacks, numbness or dissociative symptoms; and nightmares or disrupted sleep.’]  

ALISON: So compassion fatigue is really a feeling of fatigue that comes about and is related to working with the emotions of others. So if you're in a job where you're really relating to someone, right, on a highly empathic level, or maybe you're in customer service, or maybe there's just an emotional kind of tenor to your work, you can experience compassion fatigue. Now, what does this feel like? It does feel like emotional exhaustion, but it can also manifest as physical exhaustion. I don't know if any of you have ever felt, you know, after a work week or a work day, why am I so tired?

ALISON (cont’d): This might be one of the reasons. What happens as compassion fatigue kind of, you know, goes on in time, there's kind of a desensitization to the stories or what you're hearing. There can be, you know, a decrease in job satisfaction, or even irritability, right, kind of that snapping, right, when we're outside of the workplace. So maybe I take a minute to check in with yourself and think, if I do work with the emotions of others, have I experienced compassion fatigue? Right, certainly something that happens, you know, with counselors, physicians, right, other people who are directly, right, working with the emotions of others. 

ALISON (cont’d): I would say the most common type of secondary stress is burnout. Burnout is really related to overall career satisfaction. It's that feeling like I don't have any more to give, right, my cup is already full. And what happens there? Maybe a feeling of hopelessness, maybe a feeling of irritability or anger, and cynicism, right, where there used to be joy and excitement and enthusiasm. Now there's maybe cynicism, a lack of interest or motivation. And this really comes about with prolonged exposure to a demanding environment. And I'm sure you can all relate to the do more with less idea. 

ALISON (cont’d): I think in the world of work today, we're doing more and we're doing it differently than we did pre-pandemic. So go ahead and think a little bit about, am I experiencing burnout? As many people do. Back to that TREM survey, about 40% of people during that COVID era experienced burnout. Lastly, the most serious of all these secondary stress responses is vicarious trauma. These reactions are similar to trauma responses. If you are a witness to, hear about, you know, traumatic material, or even feel the trauma of all this kind of collective conflict, both here and abroad, you can kind of feel a bit numb. 

ALISON (cont’d): There can be shock or denial or confusion, a little bit of guilt, shame, or kind of detachment from your experiences. And I would say that emotional sensitivity or even hyper arousal, right? You feel that something can kind of, you know, kind of, you know, push your buttons a little easier. Also, I would say nightmares, disrupted sleep. Those are all vicarious trauma reactions. And I would say at that point, if you are really having severe sleep difficulties, nightmares, a lot of difficulty dealing with, you know, this high level emotional response, the vicarious trauma piece would be a time to seek counseling. Burnout as well. But vicarious trauma really is telling us, hey, you know, the person's really being affected by what's going on. 

Slide 8

[On the screen is the next slide, which is titled Physical Symptoms of Stress. An image of a person’s body from the thigh to head is outlined, with lines indicating where on the body the physical symptom is occurring and what the symptom is. For the brain and nerves, one might feel headaches, feelings of despair, lack of energy, sadness, nervousness, anger, irritability, increased or decreased eating, trouble concentrating, memory problems, trouble sleeping, mental health problems (such as panic attacks, anxiety disorders and depression. For skin, one might have acne and other skin problems. For muscles and joints, one may feel muscle aches and tension, especially in the neck, shoulders, and back, and increased risk of reduced bone activity. For the heart, one might feel a faster heartbeat, rise in blood pressure, increased risk of high cholesterol and heart attack. For the stomach, one might feel nausea, stomach pain, heartburn, and weight gain. For the pancreas, one might feel an increased risk of diabetes. For intestines, one might feel diarrhea, constipation, and other digestive problems. For the reproductive system, women might feel irregular or more painful periods, and reduced sexual desire, while men might feel impotence, lower sperm production, and reduced sexual desire. For the immune system, one might feel a lowered ability to fight or recover from illness.]

ALISON: And I think something that is really interesting is that stress very much manifests in the body, just like our emotions do. I have clients a lot say, I have a lump in my throat. And to me, that says, okay, there's something they want to say, but they can't. Or people will say, I have that feeling in the pit of my stomach, or I feel this heaviness in my shoulders. And then I think, okay, what is this person carrying? Are they carrying a heavy load? What I would encourage you all to do right now is, Greg, just take a seat. Maybe you can take a deep breath in and breath out.

ALISON (cont’d): And just notice if there's tension anywhere in your body. Right? We kind of talk about, you know, going from your toes, kind of through the core, up to your shoulders, are you experiencing tension anywhere in the body? And just go ahead and note that. We will do a mindful body scan at the end of this presentation that will kind of help you get in touch with more of the physical symptoms of stress. But on balance, we're going to experience stress physically first. That's typically our first sign. So I always say, let's tune into the physical body to see how we're doing. 

Slide 9

[On the screen is the next slide, which is titled, Checking in With Yourself. Below is the text, ‘How do you know when you are approaching the limits of your coping capacity?’ Accompanied are bullet points: ‘Where you feel stress in your body? What do you observe in yourself emotionally? How has your thinking been impacted? What are some of the bad habits you engage in when feeling stressed?’]

ALISON: Now, just something that's a bit self-reflective. You know, how do you know when you're approaching the limits of your coping capacity? Right? I always love the window of tolerance analogy. Let's say there's this big window that you have. Right? And, you know, the breeze can flow in and out of this window. Right? But under stress, the window begins to close and narrow. That means, you know, stressors cannot flow in and out in a natural way. In fact, right, they start to bounce off or you start to feel more edgy. 

ALISON (cont’d): So I want you to check in with yourselves and really ask yourselves, how am I doing with my window of tolerance? Do I have that nice big window where things can just, stress can flow in and out and I can, you know, roll with kind of the ups and downs of life? Or is that window of tolerance shrinking a bit? And I know I talked a bit about where you're feeling stress in your physical body. But another way that stress manifests is in our thinking. Our thinking truly begins to become extreme. 

Slide 10

[On the screen is the next slide, which is titled, Coping Techniques: Identify Your Thinking Patterns. Below are the bullet points: ‘All or Nothing Thinking, the tendency to see situations in all or nothing terms; Personalization, the tendency to automatically blame yourself; Externalization, the tendency to automatically blame others; Catastrophizing, worst case scenario thinking; and Mindreading, the tendency to think we know what others are thinking.’]

ALISON: This next slide is really about identifying your thinking patterns. And if you all want to just take a look over these common negative thinking patterns and try to think, do I engage in any of these? In my clinical practice, I see a lot of all or nothing thinking. Right? I'm either perfect or I'm a failure. In reality, life is lived in the shades of gray somewhere in the middle. Right? Or we all know people that take things very personally. There's a group project. And, you know, the group project didn't go so well, but they're really hard on themselves or people that chronically maybe blame other people. 

ALISON (cont’d): Sometimes there's mind reading. You know, I know what my partner or friend is thinking. I'm sure of it. And then I say, are you really sure? Can we kind of test this hypothesis? Sometimes we really don't know what other people are thinking. Right? And we'll talk about effective communication later. But I would say the biggest, you know, negative thought distortion that happens under stress is catastrophizing. And I'm assuming you can all relate to this. Jumping to the worst case scenario. We'll talk about an antidote to that in a little bit later.

Slide 11

[On the screen is the slide titled, Current Events: Political Conflict in the U.S. Below is the heading, Stay Mindful. Accompanied are three bullet points: ‘acknowledge and validate the fears, anxieties, and anger that you and others may have; it can feel scary if you believe your rights may be taken away, that your values are being trampled on; and it makes sense to feel angry in the face of what you perceive to be injustice and unfairness.’ Below is another heading: Separate People (and their inherent value) from Their Viewpoints. There are two bullet points: ‘remind yourself, “I can interact with someone without agreeing with them or even understanding why they think the way they do”; and exercise your sympathy muscle, remember a time in your life in which you believed something or held a certain viewpoint and then later changed your mind.’]

ALISON: Okay. What I want to address now is the political conflict in the United States. Right? I think it's so important for all of you to acknowledge any feelings that you have. I think it's so important for all of you to acknowledge any feelings that you have about what's gone on politically, the upcoming election. I think it is so normal to have fear, anxiety, and anger right now. I think it's also normal to, right, catastrophize. Right? Think in worst case scenario thinking. You want to validate for everyone. It can feel very scary if you believe your rights might be taken away or that your values are being trampled on. 

ALISON (cont’d): And again, anger is a completely normal response in the face of injustice and unfairness. Right? We're living in a divisive political environment. And I think having emotions about this is very normal. And my understanding, right, with ANR is that you're embedded in counties right throughout the state. Right? So they're different. Obviously, people hold different political beliefs. But I think a technique that can be used is attempting as hard as it can be to separate people and their inherent value from their viewpoints. Right? We all can interact with people in a professional collegial way without necessarily agreeing with their viewpoint or even understanding it.

ALISON (cont’d): And I think you all can probably go along with me on, you know, really accepting the inherent value of all people. Right? So if we maybe come from that point of view, it might be easier to sometimes work with people where your political beliefs are quite different. And lastly, exercising your empathy muscle. Right? There are times in our lives where maybe we believe one thing, it ended up changing. So just knowing that there can be some flexibility here. But I understand that it feels like it's a very divisive environment. 

Slide 12

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Compassion. Below are two bullet points. The first says, ‘Self-compassion refers to the act of recognizing our own humanity, accepting ourselves as we are right now, and appreciating ourselves for our inherent worth.’ The next bullet point reads, ‘Compassion (literally “suffering with”) is a warmhearted sensitivity to suffering coupled with a desire to help, if possible. Giving compassion lowers stress and calms the body. Receiving compassion makes us stronger and better able to center ourselves and keep going.’ On the right is an image of a person hugging their reflection.] 

ALISON: So I think with that being said, the importance of compassion now is more important than ever. Compassion is literally suffering with someone. Right? Being there alongside them. And we are people, humans co-regulate when they're really in the presence of other humans. That's harder to do when we're kind of, you know, on Zoom or working from home. But I would encourage all of you, if you see a coworker, a friend, a partner, a family member struggling, you know, what is a compassionate response? Right? I can almost guarantee you would have a compassionate response for them. What we think is a little bit harder is self-compassion. Turning that compassion inwards towards ourselves. Right? Treating ourselves with the same kindness that we would a best friend, a child. Right? Someone that we care about. We will do an exercise related to self-compassion toward the end of this presentation.

Slide 13

[On the next screen is the slide titled, Political Conflict in the U.S. Below is the heading, Stay CURIOUS, with the bullet point reading: “Hmmmm … I wonder what about this person’s background, culture, and life experiences factor into their thinking/values so differently from me?” Another heading is, Set Boundaries. The bullet points read: ‘limit your exposure to political news and social media; and It’s okay to walk away from an overly heated conversation that doesn’t feel productive or meaningful.’]

ALISON: Going back to the blow conflict in the U.S., sometimes keeping an open mind and staying curious. You know, taking a step back even. I think if in fact, right, you are in the presence of someone where you feel like, wow, this person's beliefs or backgrounds are really, are an affront to me and mine, what you do is you do have to make sure you're okay. And what I mean by that is when we feel like, when we feel that we're under psychological threat, kind of that ancient brain gets triggered. And the responses can be fight, fight, flight, or freeze. 

ALISON (cont’d): And when we have those responses, when we're activated or under threat, that those frontal lobes, the front part of the brain used in thinking, emotional regulation, judgment, and planning, they kind of go offline. So I would encourage you, if you feel like you're activated somehow, to make sure you step away and use some self-soothing techniques. And we'll talk about those later in the presentation. And then if you have to reengage in that conversation, but in the heat of the moment, if it's not productive and you're feeling too kind of emotionally dysregulated, I would say go ahead and walk away. 

ALISON (cont’d): Return to it later if you must. Lastly, you know, really thinking about, you know, what led this person, their background, their culture, you know, their personal experiences, to think so differently, to hold values so differently than what I do. Can you approach that with curiosity? Right? And lastly, eliminating exposure to news and social media. I think it's so important to be informed, but at the same time, I want all of you to have rest spaces, not only from what's going on, right, politically at home and overseas, but from work. I want you to do things that are meaningful that don't involve kind of, right, a constant barrage of information. And happy to take questions if anyone has them. 

Slide 14

[On the screen is the slide titled, Putting Things Into Perspective. There are five steps. The first says, ‘Identify the actual event (source of stress).’ The second says, ‘List worst case scenario.’ The third step says, ‘List best case scenario.’ The fourth says, ‘List most likely scenario.’ The fifth step says, ‘Make a plan for worst case scenario.’]

ALISON: Now, I wanted to talk a bit about putting things into perspective. This really goes back to one of those kind of cognitive distortions I talked about, catastrophizing, right? I thought, you know, the upcoming election would not be a bad example for this. List the source of stress. Let's say it is the upcoming election. What's your worst case scenario? What's your best case scenario? What's most likely? Now, with an election, most likely is hard to come by. But you want to make a plan for worst case. I think, you know, the best offense sometimes is really preparing ourselves, because then you're less likely to be taken off guard. 

ALISON (cont’d): And this exercise can work in other realms as well. If there's something you're really worrying about, right, what's best case, what's worst case, what's most likely? And if I have to plan for worst case, I know that I'm prepared. So this is something I use a lot with people. It's really just about kind of probabilistic thinking. You know, on balance, as much as, right, life can be a roller coaster ride, things shake out in the world of, you know, the most probable. That being said, things are very volatile, I understand, right, with the political scene. 

Slide 15

[On the screen is the slide titled, Resilience. Below is a text that reads: ‘According to the American Psychological Association, “resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors.”’] 

ALISON: You know, that brings me to this idea of resilience. Human beings are built for resilience. And I'm sure you've all either seen this in yourselves or seen this in someone else, right, that you admire. You know, there can be adversity, trauma, tragedy in the workplace, health problems. And people have this capacity to rise above and to get through it. So I would encourage you all right now to think about a time in your life where you thought, hey, I might not get through this. This is so hard. This is so heartbreaking. But then on the other side, you realized you did get through. 

ALISON (cont’d): What coping mechanisms did you use, right? Did you rely on social support? Did you, you know, start exercising? Did you use, you know, meditation? There's this whole concept of post-traumatic growth, right, that people can go through trauma and actually grow because of it. So something I would ask you all just to reflect on a bit, the resilience that you all hold in the face of adversity. 

PARTICIPANT 1: Alison, can I jump in with a question? And this is for me. Going back to the best case, worst case, most likely. How do you recommend handling that exercise when a lot of things feel out of your own control? Right. So I think what you're getting at is like manage what you can control. But how do you recommend thinking about that when there are so many things that are out of personal control? 

ALISON: Yeah, that's such a great question, because there's—I think people are feeling so out of control lately. And when people feel out of control, you know, so many things can happen. Rumination, right. Falling into bad habits, anxiety, stress. I think it's a useful exercise, even when the event is out of your control to work it through. Right. Because it's essentially a cognitive exercise where, you know, if you have been thinking the worst case, it gives you hope that there can be a best case. And but you're also planning for the worst. So I understand what you're saying. Maybe it doesn't seem as directly applicable to things that are outside of your control. 

ALISON (cont’d): But I would say give it a try, because what it does is it at least allows you to see the full scope of the scenario in all of the shades of gray. Hope that was a satisfactory answer. Do you have any other questions?

PARTICIPANT 1: Thank you. No, that was it for me. Thank you. That was helpful. Of course. Of course.

ETHAN IRELAND: I have a question. 

ALISON: OK. Yeah. 

ETHAN IRELAND: What if it is the worst case scenario? That's the thing that's stressing you out, like, you know, because I've gone through and I've, you know, tried to plan out things. So talking about the, you know, the political violence or the violence, but the potential for political violence in this country, the amount of conflict that's going on now. And then hearing people say things that are very direct calls for violence against myself and people that I love. So if I say, OK, I go through and identify the actual event, you know, identify the source of stress. Right. So I've limited my exposure to things. But it's also important. Excuse me. It's also important for me to be aware of what's going on so I can prepare for it. So minimizing my exposure to it, but still trying to stay aware in a way that I can prepare.

ALISON: Right. No, absolutely. And that's what's hard, right, about saying, hey, here's something you can do, because for a lot of people, no, no, it's not catastrophizing. Right. Worst case for them could be an actual reality. And I think then if we say, OK, right, OK, there's best case, there's worst case, but I'm going to make a plan, maybe really thinking about what that would look like. So should the worst case come to pass where it's so damaging, like you said, to you and your loved ones and taking away your personal rights? Really, what might that what might a plan for you look like?

ALISON (cont’d): And I understand that that might be extreme and it might be something you don't even want to think of. But I think as a thought exercise, I think it might be useful because I don't know. I don't know if you've all been in these situations where we're, you know, we're living life, we're handling all these stressors that are coming at us. And then we run into a wall when a worst case scenario comes to pass as a thought exercise, making a plan, getting with those family members, getting together and thinking as a trusted group, what might this look like? 

ALISON (cont’d): I just think we don't know what's going to happen. But as a thought exercise, I think it has value. And I want to validate the fear and the reality that you're talking about and how much mental space it takes up. It is completely understandable. 

SARAH LIGHT: Can I share an anecdote from personal experience about what you're saying, Alison? I guess the way that I try to frame it—this is Sarah Light, Agronomy Advisor—is when I'm doing, like, mindfulness practice around the type of stuff you're describing. For me, it's not like not living in the reality, but more waiting to panic about the worst case scenario until it happens. So preparing as much as possible for whatever outcome it is, but not allowing myself emotionally to be totally overwhelmed and taken over by the hypothetical worst case scenario that hasn't happened yet. 

ALISON: Wow, that's such excellent advice. And I would then ask back, what does that look like for you? What kind of strategies are you employing to make sure you're not being emotionally taken over? 

SARAH LIGHT: So for me, mindfulness, breath work. I first started practicing it when I was dealing with a really challenging family situation that had, like, the potential of a very dire outcome that was causing me a lot of stress and, like, affecting my sleep, my work and everything. And so meditation, mindfulness, and just kind of really looking head on at the reality of the situation and not living in denial also really helped me like seeing the world for what it was, but not just allowing it to overtake every part of my day until it really needed to.

ALISON: Right. And thank you for that. I really appreciate what you're saying. And toward the end of this experiential portion of this talk, we will talk about the real benefits of mindfulness and staying in the present. It's so hard. Our minds have a tendency to want to go to the past and the future and staying in the present—and I'm sure you've all done a lot of the mindfulness work—is hard, but it can be extremely helpful. So thank you both for these comments. They've been very, very helpful. 

Slide 16

[On the screen is the slide titled, Current Events: Global Conflict. Below are the bullet points: ‘experiencing anger, unfairness, grief, fear, sorrow, apathy, or emotional numbness is an indication of your humanity, not a sign that something is wrong with you; recognize your emotions for what they are: natural reactions to a terrible situation; if you do not support your government’s actions, it’s natural to feel distressed about harms they may be causing; and your government is supposed to be expressing the will of its people, and you are one of those people.’]

ALISON: And now, right, trying not to harp too much right on conflict, but it is part of today's topic, the global conflict, right? We have multiple wars overseas. And I just want to validate again that that range of emotions from anger, unfairness, sorrow, apathy, or even numbness, you know, whatever emotional reaction you're having, it's an indication of your humanity. We are part of the human family. And it's not an indication that something is wrong with you. There's so much going on outside of our sphere of influence. And I think at times we can say something's wrong with me.

ALISON (cont’d): You know, I don't feel right. You know, it's got to be me. No, we need to put the onus on things that are going on outside of us. Right. That's in some ways where the conflict is. So I wanted to validate that all of those feelings don't mean something is wrong. It's an indication of your humanity. It's a natural reaction to a terrible situation that, in fact, we do not have a lot of control over. You know, as this is from Johns Hopkins, but right, we we elect these officials and they, you know, if we don't support the actions of our elected officials, it's natural to feel distressed about harms that they're causing.

ALISON (cont’d): Right. Our elected officials are supposed to be expressing our will. And if we don't feel that they're doing that, that's when there can be right. This intra personal conflict. They want to validate the feelings of emotion, of distress, helplessness. Right. What can I do in the face of all of this suffering to that point? 

Slide 17

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Reality Check. Below are the bullet points, ‘these are unprecedented times; we are all going through this together; we are all grappling with uncertainty about the future; and we are figuring this out as we go.’ To the right is an image of a lighthouse and an ocean.]

ALISON: I think it's so important to realize that these in some ways are unprecedented times because we have so many sources of conflict and current events. It's such a confluence. You know, we're living at this point in time where not only did you have hopefully a once in a lifetime pandemic, but a lot, like I said, of social justice stuff happening stateside wars overseas in an election. Everyone's grappling with this uncertainty about the future and we're all figuring it out together. I do believe in some ways we do forget that we think I'm the only one that's angry. 

ALISON (cont’d): I'm the only one that's sad and upset. Right. So remembering our common humanity, I think, is pretty important because it's so, you know, to Elizabeth's point, right. She wanted me to talk about isolation. I think we're also feeling more isolated than we ever have been for a variety of reasons. 

Slide 18

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Setting Realistic Expectations of Ourselves and Others. Below are two bullet points. The first reads: ‘This is hard, as our default is to rely on our expectations of how we should function and this view has the capacity to set us up for disappointment and self-deprecation.’ The second reads: ‘Our expectations for ourselves and the people around us need to correspond to the reality in which we are living right now.’]

ALISON: To that point, I do think realistic expectations of ourselves and others are important. I love working with UC Davis faculty and staff for so many reasons. Right. Everyone does such interesting work. And they have such high expectations of themselves. Right. If I'm not at 110 percent that I'm not doing my job. You know what? It's OK. It's OK to do a good enough job. So that's for ourselves, but for others, too. Wait a minute. Why did that? Why did that coworker kind of snap at me a little bit or why did that cut me off in traffic? 

ALISON (cont’d): I think that our expectations for ourselves and others need to match the reality of the situation. I think that's really important. And it doesn't mean super low expectations, doesn't mean super high expectations, but it means those realistic expectations for a really difficult time. I see Ricardo has raised his hand. 

RICARDO: Sorry. Yes, Alison, if I may just, you know, share something what was the reality check and what you're talking about. I went through a range of emotions and feelings and, you know, from being feeling isolated to very vulnerable for what is happening outside my control. And on top of that was COVID. And that made me I'm normally a very optimistic person and I like to see the good in people and the glass half full instead of half empty. But at that point, I just couldn't see that anymore. And like you said, I went to the reality check. 

RICARDO (cont’d): And one of the things that really got into me was, yeah, we're going through this storm. You know, everybody's going through the storm. Yeah, we're facing the same storm, but we're not on the same boat. And that was to me a reality check that made me very angry, very. Brought a lot of despair because I couldn't do nothing as far as change people, the perception of who I am. What I represent. And so on and so forth. So. It has nothing to do with work. You know, work is a piece of cake. Actually, it's wonderful. 

RICARDO (cont’d): I love it. But my reaction first was towards work and not expressively, but I felt if people say, boo, I was crying or and I thought, why are they mean to me? You know, thinking that I had to get my strength and. Like you said, reality check and say, what is really happening? And I realized then what was the what I was suffering was the symptoms, but what was the cost? And the cause was something that I don't have control over. And since I don't have control over it, I will have I decided to take control of the things that I can control.

RICARDO (cont’d): And the little things or the many things or the big things that I can control, you know, and one thing at a time. And that brought me peace. That brought me be thankful for everything and to everybody. Who understood where I was made me realize how many people really appreciate me and that I not even thought about. And so, yeah, it was it was a challenge to face that reality check. But at the same time, I think I came out of that storm, my little storm within the bigger, bigger storm that we're facing. 

RICARDO (cont’d): More of a champion than a victim, because I faced the reality in a sense that I realized I can be vulnerable. I can be, you know, very vulnerable, more than what I thought it was going to be. But also I can deal with this and there are ways and mechanisms that I can deal with it in a positive way.

ALISON: Excellent. You know, I really appreciate that because we cannot control certain things. In some ways, that's thematic today. What can we can control? You know, we can control right the way we think, who we let into our lives, the practices that we do. And I'll address gratitude here in a moment. But I love what you're saying about vulnerability, right? They talk about courage and vulnerability. Brene Brown's a vulnerability researcher. Encourage being living with your whole heart. I think it is so easy to shut down to other people at this point. But, you know, Ricardo, you're saying, no, I decided to be vulnerable, right? Live with courage, live with my whole heart, control what I can and have gratitude. And I think that's an excellent testament that it feels like it got you to the other side, to where things are in a more positive place.

RICARDO: Yeah, to see things in a way that I could hear now the news about things that make me angry and anxious. Now I listen to them, but they don't dwell on me. They don't cause the same effect on me. 

ALISON: Right. And no, and that's right. My wish for everyone. Right. And to that point. So thank you so much for sharing. 

Slide 19

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Working with Interpersonal Conflict Tips for Managers and Staff. Below are two bullet points. The first reads: ‘Difficult times can involve uncertainty and unexpected or significant change, which can increase stress, reduce trust, and strain relationships.’ The second bullet point reads: ‘Incivility at work: 2/3rds of US workers have experienced incivility at work (SHRM, 2024).’]

ALISON: To that point, I want to do and I won't go into too much depth, potentially, but I want to talk about the interpersonal conflict now that can happen at work. Right. We went kind of global or in stateside. All these difficult times mean that they constrain relationship, reduce trust. Again, Trent Society, Human Resources Management talked about two thirds of U.S. workers have experienced some kind of instability. You know, it sounds like you have a great team where you are, but on balance, this stress, as you pointed out, can affect us in our jobs.

Slide 20

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Increase Positive Emotions at Work. There are three bullet points: ‘gratitude; joy; and positivity.’ On the right is an image of multiple people jumping for joy, with a sunset in the background.]

ALISON: I think that's why it's so important to have a mind toward having gratitude, spreading joy and positivity. And we don't always feel right in that mode. But I think there are things that can be done to increase these positive emotions at work. 

Slide 21

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Caring For Your Employees. The first bullet point reads: ‘understand your employees’ needs, create a couple of formats to gather information; talk about wellness during regularly scheduled meetings, use regular meetings to build staff support and resilience; advocate for feasible, sustainable jobs and policies to support employees, many jobs now feel simply untenable for workers; and spread positivity and express gratitude, simple and genuine expressions of gratitude toward staff are very important.’ These bullet points from from the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.] 

ALISON: This is really, you know, talking specifically to managers. How can you understand your employees needs? Sure. You can put out a survey or you can talk to maybe supervisory staff as well. What are your employees needing right now? And also, can you talk about wellness at your regularly scheduled meetings? Right. To managers, you're the leader, you're the mentor, your employees are looking to you to set the tone and as a model. And that is a huge responsibility. But let's talk about wellness during our meetings. And also, since jobs have changed, people's feeling of purpose, meaning, even the ways that they work. 

ALISON (cont’d): How can managers advocate for feasible and sustainable job policies that support employees? Now is really the time to be creative, to advocate and be flexible. And to an earlier point, how do you spread positivity and express gratitude? A thank you or a great job goes such a long way. Right. As we all know. 

Slide 22

[On the screen is the slide titled, Gratitude. Below is text that reads: Gratitude Practices: Robert Emmons has shown that attending to things we are grateful for on a daily basis (e.g., reflect on 3 blessings in your life before falling asleep) is associated with reduced stress, improved mood, stronger relationships, better sleep, and better health. To the right is an image of a shoreline, with the phrase, What am I grateful for today? On the sand.]

ALISON: And interestingly, right, gratitude practices. So what am I thankful for in my life? Reflecting on blessings, also reflecting on what are my successes at work? Right. They are associated with a reduced stress response. Right. And overall, better well-being. I would encourage you all if you've had a hard day to reflect on what are a few successes that I've had at work today? Right. It's going to reorient our minds to what's going well. And I'm also watching the clock right for time. 

Slide 23

[On the screen is the slide titled, Caring For Yourself: Tips for Managers. There are three bullet points. The first reads: Being a leader is very stressful, being a leader during times of conflict is a huge undertaking. The second reads: Take time to invigorate yourself as a leader, we cannot think of a time when thoughtful, caring leadership has been more important to our workforce! Put some time on your calendar just to just focus on yourself as a leader. The third bullet point reads: Use this time for self-compassion and gratitude for what you have been able to manage during the past year given all your challenges.]

ALISON: I also want to speak to managers directly. Being a leader is so stressful and being a leader during stressful times is such a huge undertaking. And how do you invigorate yourself as a leader? Right. Maybe put some time on your calendar for yourself and use self-compassion and look at what managers you've been able to navigate. Let's say over the past four or five years, given all these challenges. Right. We know mental health is an issue for employees and people in general. So managers, you know, don't forget to engage right in that self-care. 

Slide 24

[On the screen is the slide titled, Effective Communication at Work. Below this are five bullet points. The first reads, Listen: Focus on what the other person is saying and convey you are paying attention (e.g., head nods, saying “mm-hmm,” repeating main points). The second bullet point reads, Empathize: show you are trying to understand what it is like to be in the other person’s shoes (e.g., identify emotions the person described, paraphrase said concerns). The third bullet point reads, Affirm: have the other person tell you what the problem is and confirm you understand the situation correctly. The fourth bullet point reads, Plan: partner with the other person to find alternatives/resolutions to the problem. Below this is a sub-bullet point which reads, Make it manageable and concrete. Repeat the plan and have the other person agree to the course of action.]

ALISON: What I want to do is I just want to touch upon an effective communication tool that I think is helpful for people. This communication tool is helpful for managers talking to staff or staff talking to each other. And we use an acronym LEAP. And it stands for Listen, Empathize, Affirm, and Plan. And the reason I think this is an important tool is when people feel heard, it kind of de-escalates them and they feel they feel better. Right. You're going to get more out of the person out of the conversation. I'll give you a quick example. 

ALISON (cont’d): In the listen portion, let's say an employee comes to you because, you know, they're having a problem with a co-worker on a group project. So that employee might say, you know, Alison is not, you know, doing her best or pulling her weight on a group project. Right. You say back, what I hear you saying is Alison isn't, you know, pulling her weight. And then you also want to show empathy. It also sounds like you're feeling frustrated. Is that true? Right. That's the affirm piece. You know, do I have that right that you're frustrated? 

ALISON (cont’d): You know, yeah, I'm frustrated about Alison not pulling her weight. But, you know, it's also making me kind of sad as well. Okay. So you feel frustrated and sad. And then P is for plan. Okay. You, me, and Alison, we're going to sit down and we're going to come up with ways to make sure work is divided equally. I ran through this quickly, but it's a slide that you can keep or print out to really kind of engage in empathic and effective communication at work. 

Slide 25

[On the screen is the slide titled, Empathic Listening. There are four words highlighted—Listen, Empathize, Affirm, and Plan—which make the acronym LEAP. The next slide has the text, Self Awareness + Self-Regulation = Self Care. What do you currently do to take care of yourself?] 

ALISON: Okay, I know we have about 10 minutes left. So what I want to do now is really just talk about some of the tips that you all can employ in your own lives to reduce stress. 

Slide 26

[On the screen is a slide titled, 3 Elements of Self-Compassion. The first element reads, 1. Self Kindness versus Self judgement. The second element reads, 2. Common Humanity versus Isolation. The third element reads, 3. Mindfulness versus Over Identification (with thoughts).] 

ALISON: And the first one is going to be self-compassion. Self-compassion is treating ourselves with kindness. And, you know, even acknowledging our faults. And again, you know, not judging ourselves. So the first element of self-compassion is self-kindness versus self-judgment. I'm sure we can all relate to going through our day and saying, that didn't go so well. What's wrong with me? Right. But you want to hold yourself in some ways with self-kindness. The second piece that we've been talking about today is common humanity versus isolation. As much as we all feel that we're going through all of the stress and this outside conflict alone, right, other humans are going through it as well. 

ALISON (cont’d): So acknowledging the common humanity. And lastly, mindfulness versus over-identification with thoughts. It's so easy to run a kind of a thought loop, you know, but how can we be mindful and stay in the present? We'll talk about that in a minute. But we are not our thoughts. As much as it seems that we are, you know, we're beings that are made up of so many different elements, right? Physical, you know, spiritual, behavioral, you know, we are not our thoughts. 

Slide 27

[On the screen is the slide titled, Practice: Self-Compassion Break. Below are two bullet points. The first reads, ‘Self-compassion involves responding in the same supportive and understanding way you would with a good friend or a child when you have a difficult time, fail, or notice something you don’t like about yourself.’ The second bullet point reads, ‘Many find it easy to have compassion for others but struggle in applying the same kindness to themselves. By taking moments throughout your day to pause and practice self-compassion you can make it more of a habit in your life.’]

ALISON: So in exercise, I wanted everyone just to try to practice supporting themselves and responding themselves in a supportive and understanding way. The same way you would a good friend or a child when you notice that there's something about yourself that you don't like. So what I have people do is I have them put their hand kind of on their heart, because what that does is it actually creates a self-soothing response. And if you even try it now where you're sitting, maybe you can drop your shoulders a bit, right, and feel, okay, they're self-soothing in that alone. 

ALISON (cont’d): You know, I'm closing this physio, I'm doing something physiological to self-soothe. And maybe take a deep breath and repeat some phrases to yourself, right? Suffering is a part of being human. This is suffering. This is really painful right now. I did the best that I could. You know, may I hold myself with compassion. May I love and accept myself just the way that I am. May I experience peace. And may I remember to treat myself with love and kindness. So something I would encourage you to do is when you're having a difficult time, are there words or phrases that bring you back to the present moment that can help self-soothe some of that pain or difficulty?

Slide 28

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Practice: Self Soothing Using the 5 Senses. Below is a body of text which reads, ‘Self-soothing is essentially doing things to calm and relax yourself through your 5 senses. Self-soothing helps us relax physically and mentally by providing physical relaxation, self-compassion, and distraction from rumination thoughts.’ Below are three bullet points. The first reads, ‘Name 5 things that you see.’ The second reads, ‘Name 3 things that you hear.’ The third reads, ‘Name 2 things that you smell.’] 

ALISON: This next piece is what I've really been talking about today in terms of keeping the mind in the present. Self-soothing using the five senses, it's deceptively simple, but very powerful. And I want all of us to just go through this right now. And then next time you're walking outside when the weather finally gets cooler, you can go ahead and do this when you're outdoors because I think it's really helpful. So what I want everyone to do is, you know, get comfortable in their chair. This will probably be the last kind of exercise that we do for today, given our time constraints. 

ALISON (cont’d): And I want you to take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Another deep breath in and a deep breath out. And I want you to press your feet into the floor. I want you to feel the floor holding up your feet. We're trying to do some grounding. I want you to feel your back pushed against the chair, the weight of the chair holding up your body. And now, and you can do this silently to yourselves, I want you to look around in the room that you're in. Just simply name five things that you see. Take note of five things that you see. 

ALISON (cont’d): This now might get a little harder. This is going to be naming three things that you hear in the room that you're in. Harder yet is naming two things that you can smell. With this exercise, right, when we attune to the outside world, using our senses, we're not focused on our thoughts, we're pulling our energy and our attention into the outside world. Although maybe there's less of an effect if you're doing it at home, I would take it outdoors and really see if you can use this technique if you are feeling heated and need some self-soothing. 

Slide 29

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Practice: Mindful Body Scan. Below are two bullet points. The first reads, ‘Let’s try to focus your awareness on the present moment, while acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations in a nonjudgemental, exploratory way. The second bullet point reads, ‘(10 minute mindful body scan for the group).’] 

ALISON: We don't have time for a mindful body scan today, but Dr. Nisha Patel, I believe in occupational health, does a lot of work on mindfulness. She does, through UC Davis, does a lot of kind of like noontime mindfulness offerings. I would encourage you to do that. 

Slide 30

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Stay Connected With Important Others. The body of text reads, Most significant determinant of resilience (noted in nearly every review/study of resilience in the past 50 years) = quality of our close personal relationships. Connect with friends and family on a regular basis even in the time of physical distance. Identify your sources of support: at home, at work, and in the community.’ To the right is an image of four people together, two of whom are sitting on the shoulders of the other two. They are all smiling.] 

ALISON: I would say out of everything that I talked about today, science has told us over the past 50 years that the most significant determinant of resilience is the quality of our close personal relationships. I know those relationships may be affected by everything that we're talking about. But to the point earlier, if we can be vulnerable, if we can communicate effectively with important and treasured others, if we can connect with safe people in our lives, whether they're in our home, outside of our home, right, with appropriate boundaries at work, that's what's going to get us through all of what we're talking about.

Slide 31

[On the screen is the next slide, titled, Academic & Staff Assistance Program (ASAP). The body of text reads that this is free confidential counseling for work-related and personal problems, as well as management consultation. The person of contact is Sharon Ree, whose email is Slree@ucdavis.edu, and whose phone number is (530) 752-2727. The website link for Human Resources is https://hr.ucdavis.edu/departments/asap.] 

ALISON: With that said, the Academic and Staff Assistance Program, again, we're here for you. We offer free confidential counseling. We have several counselors here to help. You would reach out to Sharon Rhee or write to them ASAP at UC Davis. And yeah, there's one last slide. This is part of the Workplace Inclusion and Belonging. And I appreciate really everyone's participation. Thank you so much. And if there's any final questions, I'm happy to answer them. 

ELIZABETH: Yes, thank you, Dr. Ward. So appreciate everything that you shared today. Those of you who are still on the call, please, please go ahead and fill out the survey. This is a quick survey of literally five questions. So it's five minutes of your time. Just to let us know how this, you know, how this session went for you and what could be better yet for next time. What is something we can share out on a bigger scale for everyone? I'd really appreciate that. And then, Dr. Ward, I did have a question.

ELIZABETH (cont’d): Going back to working as like a team, like creating effective communication when you have these kinds of conflicts, you talked about the LEAP. I'm sorry, you know, going through the LEAP. But, you know, is there other strategies we can use for coping for professionals? 

ALISON: Okay, really, really great question. Right. I think I had a few slides on the effective communication. 

Slide 32

[On the screen is the previous slide, titled, Effective Communication at Work.]

ELIZABETH: Oh, I think that was it. 

ALISON: Right. I think, I think we all want to prep for important discussions. We are having more and more important discussions, whether it's asking for changes to our work, changes where we work or the way that we work. You really want to think out what you're going to say and you're going to want to write that down. Right. For both managers and staff. My second really big point on this is what are your expectations for the conversation? So many times we have unspoken, even unacknowledged expectations about how a conversation is going to go. And it doesn't always go that way. 

ALISON (cont’d): Really be clear about what your expectations are and go ahead and temper those expectations. Again, go back to best case and worst case scenario for how this conversation is going to play out. Be aware of your intent versus your impact. You know, I can intend to say something. Right. But it can impact you in a way that I did not intend. So let's be really careful and sensitive to the ways we communicate. Expect to feel uncomfortable during difficult conversations. It's just part of the way it is. And my last tip is let's really practice our assertive communication. 

ALISON (cont’d): Passive communication is, I'm not going to say anything or I'm going to leave a lot out. Aggressive communication really shuts the other person down. Assertive is right down the middle. This is what I think. This is what I feel. This is what I need. It's both respectful and honest, but it's not violating anyone's rights. 

ELIZABETH: I love that. Good. Yeah. Kind of that, you know, this is what I think. So let's say it again so we can remember it. This is what I think. This is what I feel. And this is what I need. 

ALISON: Exactly. And again, we're not being passive and just kind of like kind of skimming and keeping it to ourselves. We're not being aggressive, but it's right in the middle. We're being assertive. And sometimes people feel that being assertive is being mean, but assertive can be the most effective way to communicate because it's clear and direct. 

ELIZABETH: And I'm sure tone of voice and how and situations of where you're having this conversation can also play into it, whether it's at a full meeting with everyone there or you've chosen to take it private. 

ALISON: Excellent point. I would say on balance. Let's take things. Let's take things private and 90% of communication is nonverbal. So be aware of your body posture. Right. I would say right on cross those hands. Let's sit in a relaxed posture. Give you a couple deep breaths. Right. Before you go into that conversation. 

ELIZABETH: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Ward. So appreciate you today. So appreciate the learning that we've all gathered. Looks like it was very well received based on the comments in the chat. I will let everyone know that there are more, there are more programs and events coming up this fall. As soon as everything is finalized, that information will be sent out so that you'll have access to these further learnings as well.

ELIZABETH (cont’d): So thank you so much, Dr. Ward. And thank you to everyone here for taking time to fill out the survey, taking time to learn, taking time to come into community together so that we can share this learning on a broader basis across our teams, our units and our counties. Thank you all so much and have a fabulous afternoon. 

ALISON: Thanks, everyone.

[End of transcript.]