Understanding Mental Health

• Conceptualize what mental health and well-being constitutes

• Discuss cross-cultural constructions of illness and mental wellness

• Expand our ideas about trauma and what it is comprised of

• Consider the impact of being labelled with mental illness and the necessity of diagnoses

Conceptualizing Problem Substance Use

• Define when substances become a problem.

• Contextualize drug and alcohol use in the dominant culture and within subcultures

• Explore the goals and functions of altered states

• Discuss the impact of stigma and what affirming support looks like

• Consider the benefits and challenges of harm reduction and abstinence-based interventions 

Becoming Trauma-Informed

• Examine the principles of being trauma-informed

• Assess how these principles have been applied to service delivery and within the organization

• Consider shifts needed organizationally to become more trauma-informed

• Identify strategies to support treatment integration for clients with trauma histories

• Review measurement tools to assess and continue moving toward a trauma-informed practice 

Trauma & The Provider                      

• Introduce/review trauma-informed theory and its basic principles

• Examine what trauma histories can look like for specific communities (e.g. gbMSM, trans folks, Indigenous communities, women, and newcomers)

• Discuss how trauma impacts the provider

• Identify signs of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue among providers

Boundaries and Burnout Prevention Strategies

• Discuss the ubiquitous language of "boundaries" and what they mean

• Identify types of boundaries and examples

• Locate boundary work as a cornerstone of burnout prevention

• Engage in a real-time exercise around burnout prevention planning

• Distinguish between burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma

• Empathy and active listening

• Explore what empathy awareness can look like and discuss its benefits

• Discuss types of empathy: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate

• Identify automatic listening habits and refocus on content/words or mood/energy

• Consider the concept of "creating space" for people

• Practice both empathic and active listening 

Building trust in the workplace

• Describe and practice building trust using effective questions and effective listening

• Explore the connection between trust and

i. high-pressure situations

ii. personality styles

Authenticity: Connect with yourself more deeply

• Create insight about values, passions and where time is invested

• Identify how our personalities and habits came to be

• Explore what authentic leadership looks like, including accepting tough feedback

• Consider ways to choose humility, learn from mistakes and embrace positivity without being toxically positive

Grief for Death and Non-Death Losses

• Define loss, mourning, bereavement, and grief

• Explore and critically evaluate the Stages of Grief model

• Discuss the concept of disenfranchised grief and its implications

• Reflect on personal experiences of ambiguous and anticipatory grief

• Consider appropriate ways to support people moving through grief

Body Positivity at Work

• Explore our relationships to food, diets, and exercise

• Discuss the presence and impact of fatphobia

• Critically evaluate health narratives as they relate to weight

• Identify specific ways that diet culture and fatphobia show up in the workplace

• Develop ways to move through the workplace more consciously 

Shame and Envy at Work

• Define shame and envy in their respective social and emotional contexts

• Explore our tendencies to disidentify with these emotions

• Consider how these emotions can be teachers and how they can hold us back

• Identify common triggers for these emotions

• Discuss ways to manage shame and envy without feeling stigmatized

Being Sex-Positive in Our Work

• Establish a working definition of what it means to be sex-positive

• Discuss the parameters of the concept and how it can get misunderstood

• Examine the targets of sex negativity and erotic marginalization

• Consider what it looks like to be sex-positive with clients and colleagues

Disabilities & Accessibilities

• Examine how ableism and able-bodied privilege operate in our lives and our workplace

• Discuss the diagnoses and identities that can be captured under the disability umbrella

• Explore the complexity of experiences of people on the autism spectrum

• Define accessibility and unpack its meaning in multiple contexts

• Identify barriers to access for the communities we serve