GENERAL WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH

Training sessions designed to deepen your understanding of mental health and its implications in the workplace. Ideal for workplaces in the early stages of their psychological health and safety journey, and as awareness training for new team members.

Psychological wellness impacting your organization's bottom line, one way or another. While traditional occupational health models focus on keeping employees physically safe on the job, Psychological Health & Safety Consultant Elizabeth Eldridge will show you how neglecting mental wellness at work means your organization is functioning below capacity. Learn why mental health must be acknowledged as a vital component of occupational health, and how making it a priority and implementing practical strategies will help your organization reach its full potential.

Duration: 1 hour (50 min. content + Q&A)

Occupational Health & Safety: Widening
Our Lens

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The perfect option for a Lunch & Learn session or to integrate into a staff meeting. Serving as a perfect introduction to mental health in the workplace, participants will gain insight into how mental health affects us all, at work and at home. Talking about mental health doesn't have to feel uncomfortable and every one of us possesses the ability to help a person who's struggling connect with appropriate support. Proactive approaches to wellness at work will also be explored. This session is well-suited to organizations who are in the earlier stages or considering implementing employee mental health initiatives.

Duration: 1 hour (50 min. content + Q&A)

Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Mental Health in the Workplace

Things You
Didn't Know
You Didn't
Know About
Mental Health
in the Workplace

Mental Health
at Work: It
Starts with
Awareness!

Participants in this session will leave with a deeper understanding of mental health, and how to recognize changes in attitudes and behaviours of co-workers/employees as possible signs of a mental health problem. The stigma around mental illness will be discussed, as well as the impact this type of discrimination (or fear of discrimination) can have in the workplace. Signs and symptoms of the two most common mental health problems in Canada (anxiety and depression) will be covered. Participants can expect to gain specific knowledge about available resources within their organization and/or community, along with practical strategies to help them navigate conversations about mental health at work and lead someone who's struggling to appropriate help.

Duration: 2 hours (100 min. content + Q&A)

The perfect choice for groups who are ready to move beyond the theoretical and actively practice navigating conversations about mental health in the workplace. Participants are introduced to a handy memory aid which provides a framework for offering support to someone who may be struggling. Although each situation is unique some important “Do”s and “Don’t”s are covered, inspiring confidence in our ability to be effective helpers. Our role as helpers is not to solve a person’s problems or even to give advice. Instead, by listening and expressing compassion – while maintaining appropriate boundaries – we aim to connect the individual with resources and professional supports that meet their needs. Please note that this session is more of a workshop, and will be best suited to groups who already have some degree of knowledge and ease with the topic of mental health.

Duration: 2 hours (100 min. content + Q&A)

Let's Talk! Conversation Navigation 101

The Mentally Healthy Workplace

The Mentally Healthy Workplace is our SIGNATURE SESSION, equipping leaders, human resource professionals, health and safety coordinators and other employee wellness champions with the necessary tools to be proactive about workplace wellness and foster a psychologically safe work environment. Mental health issues account for about one third of all disability claims in Canadian workplaces, and 70% of the total costs. In addition to the impact of absenteeism, many organizations are experiencing diminished productivity, disengagement and other effects of “presenteeism” — employees being physically present at work but functioning below their capacity due to mental distress. Employers have a duty to make reasonable accommodations for health conditions whether physical or mental in nature but offering support and implementing accommodations can be complex when it comes to mental health concerns. Topics covered in this session include:

Mental health: what it is, its place in our overall health and its impact in the workplace
Stigma, including the more subtle forms this type of prejudice can take
Legal responsibilities of the employer and employee, including the Duty to Inquire, Duty to Accommodate
Understanding depression and anxiety, the most common mental health issues in Canada
Talking about mental health problems in the workplace: practical conversation tools
Connecting employees with professional support resources: who, what, when and how?

The Mentally Healthy Workplace includes a take-home workbook for each participant (digital format for virtual delivery; hard copies for in-person sessions).

Duration: Half-Day and Full-Day Options Available -- what's the difference?

The half-day session was created to provide organizations teams with the "nuts and bolts" of mental health in the workplace. This gives participants a broad overview of the many moving parts that make up a psychologically safe and healthy work environment. It makes a great starting point for leadership teams who are starting to have conversations about employee mental health and organizational wellness, but are working under time constraints.

The full-day session (6 hours of content plus a lunch break partway through) allows time for participants to engage in more organization-specific dialogue and problem-solving through hands-on activities and case studies. This option is for organizations who are ready to move from theory into action.

New training programs debuting April 2024: