Trauma Assistance Fund for Freelancers
Funded therapy for freelancers working in Canada or abroad
This fund provides confidential and timely psychological counselling for freelance journalists experiencing mental health issues in response to an acute work-related stressor. The fund is open for applications from freelancers of any nationality with relevant Canadian journalistic connections, wherever they are based.
The recent Taking Care survey and report of more than 1200 Canadian journalists, which the Forum sponsored and facilitated, showed that news media workers across the country are exposed to an ever-increasing number of traumatic situations and events, producing high levels of psychological distress. Unprecedented expressions of hatred towards, and online harassment of, media workers are compounding the problem.
The Forum is working with managers and employees within Canadian news organizations to help them address these issues for staff, but freelance workers remain the most vulnerable members of the journalism community, as they do not qualify for access to employee assistance programs (EAPs) and usually work without peer support.
To address their circumstances, this fund will provide and pay for time-limited access to confidential counselling for approved freelancers. While the Forum administers the fund, Dr. Anthony Feinstein will assess the needs of each applicant, based on information provided, and will match successful applicants with appropriate counsellors.
The Forum thanks Myriad Canada, formerly KBF Canada, for its support for this fund