Imagine Institute for Learning
Author: Brianne Burritt, Imagine Institute for Learning
As Edmontonians continue to navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic, the need for education and compassion around mental wellbeing, both in our personal and professional lives, continues to grow. At Imagine Institute for Learning, we have heard from organizations and our workshop participants that many people are on the edge of burnout and that workplace expectations have changed significantly over the last two years. With more and more people working from home, the line between our home-selves and our work-selves is increasingly blurred. Therefore, we can no longer just rely on our “free” time after shift or on weekends to cancel out our potential work stress. Our Imagine team responded to these needs with a Workplace Wellness training series that meets workers where they are at right now.
Level 1 focuses on connection, providing space for employees to share their experiences and hear from the diverse perspectives of others. We truly believe that change happens in the context of relationships. We dive into relevant mental health topics like surge capacity, ambiguous loss, and moral tension to empower participants to improve their self-awareness, wellness, and compassion.
Level 2 focuses on preservation because a psychologically healthy workforce is an effective one. By exploring professional quality of life and learning about evidence-based shifts in practice, we provide employees with the tools they need to engage fully in their work, connect to their teams, and protect themselves with sustainability in mind.
Imagine Institute for Learning has been working with Living Hope and the City of Edmonton since 2019 to provide QPR Gatekeeper to Suicide Prevention and Trauma-Informed Care training to Edmontonians at no cost to participants. QPR Suicide Prevention teaches gatekeepers the warning signs of a suicide crisis, how to offer hope through positive action and ultimately, how to get help to save a life. Enhancing understanding and capacity around suicide preventions helps Edmontonians to talk openly about suicide and to reduce the stigma that is attached. A past participant said, “being able to offer support not only to my staff but also within my personal life with people around me who are struggling with depression and their mental health is extremely valuable to me.”
Our Trauma-Informed Care trainings also reduce potential stigma by creating awareness of the prevalence and significant impact of trauma on an individual’s life and inform service providers on how to apply a trauma-informed approach to their current practice. Participants have reported back to us that they “liked how [our training] moved through with a combination of group work, discussion and video to stay relevant and engaged.” In addition, we’ve heard, “this workshop really broadened my knowledge about trauma and added a great amount of value to my education.”
Almost every employee will have taken some sort of worker safety training of some sort or another, but by casting a wider net to protect our psychological safety, workplace wellness training adds a much-needed layer of insulation and ensures a more holistic approach to well-being. Imagine Institute for Learning’s goal is to support the development of a competent and qualified workforce that can respond to the increasing mental health challenges faced by human service professionals and non-traditional allies. We are not-for-profit organization in Edmonton dedicated to enhancing the knowledge and skills of relationship-based professionals.
Join us for Workplace Wellness Level 1 and 2 training sessions available this December and January at https://www.imagineinstitute.ca/bookings. Level 3 and 4 will be made available in the new year.
Workplace Wellness Framework: Level 1-4
Available starting December 2021
1) Connection - Change Happens in the Context of Relationships: Psychological Shifts 2) Preservation - A Psychologically Healthy Workforce is an Effective One: Practice Shifts
Available early 2022
3) Intention - From Good Intentions to Positive Impact: Organizational Shifts 4) Momentum - Keeping it Going: Culture Shifts