0006 - Mindfulness for Mental Health Workers

Course Description

This is an institute that is designed for all school faculty involved with the helping profession—social workers, counselors, special education and general education teachers who want to improve their response to students who have issues with anxiety, trauma, fear, sadness, bullying or the responses as students try to cope. Dr. Caryn Wells, professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership at Oakland University, will offer this two-day program for mental health professionals at all levels which will include time for interaction, problem solving, reflection, mindful practice and goal setting.

Participants in this program will learn about mindfulness — experience with mindfulness practice is not necessary. Learn about how mindfulness and mindful self-compassion can be used to help students to learn how to cope with stress of school and thrive in the classroom. Learn how to identify students that are having challenges in school and the techniques to deal with group facilitation or individual conversations with students and parents. Practice a variety of practices including breathing, finding a calm center, turning down the volume of stress and acceptance as a form of moving forward.

This program will emphasize evidence-based practices that help students calm down and experience a sense of quiet in the classroom. We will review these practices and there will be time to practice teaching or facilitating classroom and group practices. The workshop will also emphasize learning the importance of self-care for those who are working in mental health capacity, developing a practice of well-being and compassionate care for teachers and mental health workers.

This program will emphasize the prevalence and impact of trauma and how to assess its impact in an educational environment. Participants will learn about Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) and the concerns for all the helping professionals working to support students experiencing trauma.

The focus of this program will be learning how to support students in school — interrupting a cycle of fear or anxiety and replacing it with practices that offer calm and stillness. The program will also focus on developing empathy and kindness for self and others. Learn how to work with and support students and their teachers, with practices that reduce stress and build resilience. The emphasis for this two-day institute will be on using evidence-based strategies to counteract the rising numbers of students needing emotional support in the schools. Mindfulness techniques and several mindfulness practices will be offered in this program, which will also include information about resilience and growth after adversity.

Please note: This is not a course in private therapy or counseling. This workshop is designed to help those who are supporting the emotional health of students in schools by teaching mindfulness, group facilitation and providing support for students, parents and other teachers.

Course Outline

During this institute, participants will have the opportunity to:

Learn about the nature of stress of children and adolescents
Find out what is making a difference with students who are learning to find a source of calm at school—evidence-based programs
Review the basics of mindfulness
Understand the benefits of mindfulness to the caregiver as teacher or mental health practitioner, and the students being served
Learn about the variety of ways to facilitate group lessons in mindful self-compassion
Teach ways to use the breath as an anchor to find calm in a stressful moment
Develop skills in resilience
Learn how to help students grow after experiencing adverse conditions

Learner Outcomes

All attendees will be able to:

Learn about the nature of stress of children and adolescents
Find out what is making a difference with students who are learning to find a source of calm at school—evidence-based programs
Receive materials for teaching stress reduction and calm to students
Network with other mental health educators who are providing services in stress reduction

Notes

Educators can earn 12 SCECHs or CEU credits
Light refreshments and lunch provided