This workshop introduces participants to the essential, practical, and strategic skills required to navigate complex emotional situations that arise in working with vulnerable populations. Participants will learn how to cultivate an effective and empathetic presence, support others without overstepping personal boundaries, and respond to distressing emotional situations with a grounded, compassionate approach. Key trauma-informed principles—self-awareness, empathy, containment, and the resolution of locked response patterns—form the foundation for a set of skills that facilitate environments of safety, trust and healing.

Workshop participants will deepen their understanding of the roots and layers of mental health challenges (such as addiction, trauma, and developmental issues), learn to recognize and effectively respond to emotional activation, and develop the skills to attend to their own well-being in situations of stress and turmoil. We’ll discuss ways of establishing appropriate boundaries (especially when staff share personal histories with those they work with), methods of navigating cultural and generational practices and norms, and strategies for providing options and directionality for trauma-informed services.

This workshop is an opportunity to engage deeply with the skills that create emotionally safe and empowering spaces—both for clients and for the professionals who support them.

Fee

The base fee for this training is $3000 (plus GST and travel, if required). This includes:

  • consultations to prepare for the session and set the groundwork for a positive experience for participants;
  • facilitation of the session via Teams, Zoom, or in-person;

Considerations

This type of training is more complex, and more dynamic, than typical professional development seminars involving presentations and content delivery. This is much more personal, and perhaps more challenging for some people. These considerations entail an approach that is flexible as well as mindful.

This session is designed to flow into the more detailed training provided by the 6-session Mental Health Skills series. Those sessions provide a framework for ongoing and deepening skill development.