Topics & Training
Education & Consulting for Helping Professionals
Foundational Training
Key Learnings
- Identify your risk factors for secondary traumatic stress and empathic strain.
- Develop strategies to take stock, reduce trauma exposure, and reset.
- Make a plan for sustainable change.
Secondary Traumatic Stress & Empathic Strain 101
Understanding the hidden impacts of trauma-exposed work
Overview
How do we stay well when bearing witness to suffering? What is the impact of hearing, seeing, and reading about trauma daily? Chronic exposure to difficult stories can lead to experiences of secondary traumatic stress and empathic strain.
Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is the experience of being significantly impacted by the suffering of others (i.e., indirect exposure to trauma). For example, STS can develop after hearing about a traumatic event, witnessing its aftermath, or viewing photos or testimony related to it.
Empathic strain (also referred to as compassion fatigue) is a profound emotional and physical exhaustion that can develop over the course of your career.
These occupational hazards are normal and common, particularly when working with people in crisis. This training explores the impact of empathic strain and secondary trauma exposure on the physical and emotional well-being of helping professionals and offers strategies to stay well.
Key Learnings
- Identify the risk factors for work-related overwhelm.
- Recognize the impact of crisis situations and “wear & tear” on energy levels.
- Learn evidence-informed strategies to rest and refuel.
Chronic Stress 101
Managing work-related exhaustion and overwhelm
Overview
Heavy workloads, intricate problems, and dwindling resources – these are challenges faced by today’s busy workplace. Despite this, our work requires us to be compassionate, focused, and creative. How do we think clearly and stay well in the face of exhaustion and depletion?
When experts discuss work-related stress, they often overlook an important contributing factor: plain old fatigue. This training provides strategies to manage the chronic “wear and tear” of working in a helping profession.
Key Learnings
- Understand the prevalence of trauma and how it can impact the services we provide.
- Learn about the long-term impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on physical and mental well-being.
- Review the six guiding principles of a trauma-informed approach.
Trauma-Informed Practice 101
The basics of building a safer and more effective workplace
Overview
Supporting people with complex needs can be challenging. Providing responsive and compassionate service is only possible when we recognize the pervasive impact that trauma can have on a person’s life and the way they engage with the world.
When we reframe our perspective from “what is wrong with you” to “what happened to you,” we help to create an atmosphere of safety, trust, and collaboration. In this setting, we empower the people we serve, those we work alongside, and ourselves to fully engage with the services we provide.
This training provides an introduction to the fundamentals of trauma-informed practice.
Key Learnings
- Identify the display rules of your profession and how they can impact well-being.
- Understand the connection between emotional labour and secondary traumatic stress.
- Learn strategies to move from emotional labour to genuine compassion.
Emotional Labour 101
Understanding the impact of masking our emotions at work
As helping professionals, we are often required to suppress our true emotions in order to do our job effectively. For healthcare workers, this may look like expressing compassion and hope during a traumatic, medical emergency. For public service workers, this may look like acting friendly and warm despite confrontational or aggressive behaviour. This incongruence between how we act and how we actually feel can take a toll on our well-being.
The term emotional labour was first coined by Hochschild in 1983, and research has shown that it can contribute to decreased job satisfaction, empathic strain, and burnout. This session will explore this concept and offer strategies for individuals working in client, customer, or patient-facing roles.
Psychological Trauma 101
Dispelling common myths and misconceptions about trauma
Psychological trauma can have profound and lasting effects on individuals, influencing their thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and well-being. Common myths about trauma can lead to misunderstandings about the best way to support those who are suffering, leading to stigma and shame.
This session provides an overview of psychological trauma, explores how trauma shapes our experience of the world, and offers strategies to incorporate trauma awareness into your work and life.
It is ideally suited for workplaces or professions that do not have prior trauma training as part of their education or workplace orientation.
Contact us to book your training today.
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