From Stress to Strategy: How PPFA’s GR Team Grounded in Clarity and Connection

Our clients from PPFA’s Government Relations team showed up to their Winter 2025 Retreat carrying the weight of immense responsibility. This team works at the intersection of public policy, ensuring access to gender affirming care, and the protection of reproductive rights. They are deeply committed to their work, but many team members arrived feeling under-resourced to handle what’s ahead.

What they needed wasn’t more strategy decks or abstract team building tasks.

They needed space to breathe.

To name the fears no one says out loud.

To reconnect to their purpose—and to each other.

Here’s what we did together.

We crafted and facilitated a one-day retreat experience rooted in emotional intelligence, embodiment, and action-oriented reflection. Our goals were clear:

• Connect to self, each other, and the collective purpose;

• Align on team priorities and clarify what’s within the team’s control;

• Build capacity to notice stress and cultivate real resilience.

Here’s how we did it.

We Centered Humanity from the Start

We began with an emotion check-in, feelings wheel in hand. Each team member named what they were feeling walking into the day. This gave us a real-time emotional map of the room.

Then came storytelling. From talking about PPFA-specific tenure to sharing past experiences, the team witnessed one another—not just as colleagues, but as people with histories, fears, and deep commitments.

We Unpacked Fear with Courage

We invited the team to articulate their biggest fears for the year ahead: from political upheaval to burnout and disillusionment.

Then we sorted their fears into what’s within our control, what we can influence, and what’s out of our hands. This Circles of Control and Influence exercise gave the team clarity and relief. As one participant reflected, “It was great to name our fears—both personal and political—and then separate what we can act on from what we can't.”

We Moved From Stress to Self-Awareness

In the afternoon, we moved into embodied work around stress response. We explored the Window of Tolerance, helping folks name how stress shows up in their bodies, and what throws them into hypo- or hyper-arousal.

This wasn’t just theory. Team members physically moved across the room to explore their default responses. It was eye-opening and vulnerable. For many, it was a highlight of the day.

One participant told us, “I really resonated with the feelings circle and the window of tolerance. It gave me better stress management tools, and I feel much better equipped moving forward.”

We Resourced to Build Resilience

To close, we got practical.

We identified specific stress recovery practices (movement, connection, creativity) and had intimate small-group conversations around how each person recognizes stress, how they resource themselves, and how to ask for support.

From new accountability practices to shared rituals, the team left not just with ideas, but with commitments.

So, what shifted?

• Nearly all participants rated the experience 5/5.

• One person called it “one of the best retreats we’ve had.”

• Several leaders walked away with concrete plans to shift team culture toward more humanity and mutual support.

• Most importantly, the team saw each other again as whole people, united in purpose. One person reflected that “The conversations helped me see that our culture can shift, and that we can support each other while doing this hard work.”

If your team is overwhelmed, under-connected, or preparing for a high-stakes season, we’d love to hold a space like this for you. Let’s move from burnout to clarity. From stress to strategy. Reach out.