OUR SERVICES
Our clients help people who help people.
They are vocational workers, educators, nurses, social workers, receptionists, mental health workers, hospital staff and volunteers. These professionals and volunteers all share the desire to make a positive difference in the lives of people requiring support. By choosing this mandate, as a dimension of this challenging work, we all have the professional obligation to be as prepared as we can to deal with difficult circumstances and behaviours presented by clients, and the aftermath of challenging encounters.
Please note that all our training sessions, and in particular self-protection skills, are developed specifically for the needs of our clients. Pre-workshop questionnaires are essential in crafting tailored sessions for our clients.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY & WELL BEING PROGRAMS
ADDRESSING VICARIOUS TRAUMA, COMPASSION FATIGUE, BURN-OUT AND SECONDARY WOUNDING
Building enhanced engagement is important for the employee’s sense of positive self-worth, self-esteem, and creating the capacity to achieve maximum self-efficacy. This weaves into the objectives of this presentation– to build our resilience – the capacity to “bounce back” from adversity and respond to the stressors of day-to-day life (Graham, 2018). This is particularly significant and timely in the current Covid 19 climate.
The corrosive and debilitating process of low-grade stress over time can begin to manifest initially with individuals as subtle withdrawal, apathy and what HR professionals call “presenteeism” – being at work “physically but not feeling engaged or mentally stimulated and no longer interested or finding satisfaction in one’s work (Quazi, 2013; Hemp, 2004).
This presentation will introduce participants to practical strategies to enhance personal engagement and resilience. All workplace settings need to take into consideration the well-being of their human resources as they progress through their careers and lives.
Harter and Blacksmith (2010) maintain that “employees can become engaged when they find meaning in their work, feel safe to do good work, and can help transfer their energy into performance. Engaged employees are both cognitively and emotionally connected to their work and workplace (pp. 122-123).
In this highly interactive and experiential workshop, participants will have time to integrate their learning through individual reflection, journaling, and suggestions on effective learning transfer strategies.
MINDFULNESS AND SELF-COMPASSION
SHSC offers a mindfulness and self-compassion workshop that is specifically structured to respond to staff and colleagues who are either experiencing or are at risk of experiencing burnout.
A mindful self-compassion approach can be integrated into practice in any type of organization and is different from ‘compassion fatigue’ workshops because from the lens of self-compassion, there is no such thing as ‘compassion fatigue’ when compassion actually includes one’s self.
When staff have the foundational skill-sets to be able to respond effectively to challenging events, they are not only building resiliency but they are also providing co-regulation to those that they work with and in essence are strengthening their capacity for the therapeutic use of self.
Self-awareness and self-soothing through the intentional use of breath, attention, visualization, physical touch and language are all areas of focus and discussion in our mindful self-compassion workshop.
SHSC training emphasizes this practice as a means of maintaining staff health, wellness and satisfaction as well as optimizing service provision.
In this training we explore:
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The difference between mindfulness and self-compassion
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How to respond to burnout, compassion fatigue and build resiliency
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The physiology and benefits of mindful self-compassion
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Practical approaches to developing mindful self-compassion
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Tips for integrating a mindful self compassion practice into daily life - both at work and at home
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Guided experiential practices so that all can actually learn mindfulness and self-compassion
Assessing and addressing the impact of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burn-out and secondary wounding through organizational, team-based and self-care strategies.
CRISIS RESPONSE SAFETY EDUCATION
TRAUMA-CENTERED CRISIS INTERVENTION
This trauma-focused workshop helps staff respond effectively to warning signs and the various stages of a crisis while demonstrating how important it is for staff to manage their own stress, anxieties and emotions when faced with these challenges.
Staff will be implemented in comprehensive and practical models that will generate the confidence to assess risks and deploy defusing strategies for a continuum of behaviours.
COMMUNITY WORKER SAFE PRACTICES
This program will introduce participants to practical safety strategies designed to maximize personal safety and minimize risk when working in unfamiliar or potentially dangerous work environments (office and/or community).
These practical strategies will increase staff awareness and further develop intuitive skills essential in the identification of potential risk when performing outreach or supportive community work. This module will create a dialogue identifying vulnerabilities through the completion of a variety of safety inventories.
Foundational learnings of Trauma Centered responses to keep everyone safe.
ORGANIZATIONAL SAFETY CONSULTATION & EDUCATION
Safety and security audits aimed at identifying environmental and operational safety vulnerabilities.
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AUDITS: IDENTIFYING VULNERABILITIES AND MAXIMIZING SAFETY
Strongly influenced by the CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) this focus is on safety in terms of facility design, use and maintenance, as well as reviewing human systems and interactions. from a safety perspective provides a unique viewpoint on the workplace community.
The result of these assessments allows a stronger alignment to existing or planned strategies, including accreditation standards and budget allowances. It also identifies opportunities to enhance safety and eliminates peripheral challenges and threats associated with crises.
The assessment tools and compliance methods deployed are developed from the standards and guidelines endorsed by the Occupational Health & Safety Council of Ontario, Ontario's Ministry of Labour and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety. We tailor our specific approach to each clients' unique requirements.
