Announcing Our Five-Minute Restore Series

TrollBusters recognizes the emotional and mental health toll that online abuse and digital violence can create in your home, in your work and in your relationships.

By Dr. Michelle Ferrier

Our Five-Minute Restore Series

This guided practice, led by therapist Deanna McPherson takes us into the belly of the beast, our phones and their images.

TrollBusters has partnered with mental health therapists specializing in trauma-related therapies used with first responders and others who are exposed to violence in their work.

Throughout 2020, in weekly coaching meetups and digital resilience trainings for TrollBusters, Deanna McPherson offered mindfulness practices and guided meditations to help journalists reduce stressors and responses to ongoing threats. We’ve brought these to you in five-minute, guided practices, tactics, and tools to help you restore calm inside your day.

Sometimes the guidance comes from resources from our colleagues at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma and the resources for mindfulness available through their tip sheets. Or from partnerships with organizations like UCF Restores, which provides direct service to Florida journalists, free of charge. And through other partnerships with therapy networks for Black and female journalists, we craft special training, like the Five-Minute Restore Series. Check out other Five-Minute Restore videos on Vimeo.

Deanna McPherson is a mental health professional and licensed clinical social worker with her most recent experiences in the areas of intimate and domestic violence including human trafficking. Ms. McPherson received her master’s in public health in 2001 from New York University, and in 2014 received a master’s degree in social work individualizing in anti-human trafficking from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Ms. McPherson has spent the past six years in social work practice that includes providing intense case management and enhancing knowledge in trauma modalities. Prior to receiving her MSW, Deanna worked in the Federal Sector in Public Health and has served in this field for 15 years. She has over 10 years of experience in anti-human trafficking research, advocacy, and training.