Give an Hour Offers Opportunities for All Through New Training Department
You hear us talk about the importance of connection and mental health and wellness quite a bit. One way Give an Hour is helping to build connections within organizations and communities is through our new training department.
Wellness is how you feel about and take care of yourself. It’s how you engage and interact with society at large. Without wellness, said Ebony, a person’s work can be adversely affected. They may not be able to provide for their family or engage in recreational activities they once enjoyed. And their ability to communicate in a healthy way could be impacted.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Give an Hour is committed to making sure those who need assistance have access to the tools and resources that will enable them to achieve good mental health and emotional well-being and that’s a win for everyone. This might look like a course offered through your employer’s organizational wellness or Employee Assistance Program. Or it might be a workshop at your local community center or church.
Our goal is to make sure if and when someone is suffering emotionally, they are not suffering alone. They can lean on others with whom they have a connection. We will do this in the following ways for individuals:
- Be trauma-responsive by recognizing that you have experienced a traumatic event
- Be person-centered by understanding the unique challenges that impact you and the needs of your community
- Use evidence-based practices to formulate our curriculum
- Increase self-awareness and knowledge about mental health and teaching how to interact with mental health providers
- Utilize a sustainable wellness approach, which means if an individual’s well-being is achieved then the overall well-being of society is better off
Emotional Wellbeing Training Center Survey
HOW ARE WE DOING THIS?
Psychoeducational Workshops: These are workshops, courses or classes designed to provide opportunities for individuals to develop skills for improving their mental health and well-being.
- We will teach people to learn how to build on their ability to improve connections
- We will educate people about removing stigma associated with mental health
- Individuals will learn to manage stress, set boundaries and cope with challenges
We recognize mental health care often presents a financial challenge or burden and this is why Give an Hour’s psychoeducational workshops are low-cost to ensure they are accessible to everyone.
Organizational Wellness: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, employees spend (on average) more than one-third of their day, five days a week at work. That’s a lot of time! Organizational wellness allows us to provide employers with the tools to better recruit and retain healthy and happy employees.
Our training department will customize curriculum to meet the needs of each organization. An organizational assessment, for example, will reveal needs specific to your employees and, if applicable, the community you serve. Due to the nature of organizations whose focus is vulnerable populations, Give an Hour is placing special emphasis on curriculum centered on recruiting and retaining competent staff and paying special attention to those affected by secondary trauma.
Organizations that participate in our wellness offerings might expect to see a decrease in unplanned absences, retaining staff for longer periods of time, improved communication and teamwork and better work/life balance for its employees.
Peer Support: Peer support is designed to help groups of people who share the same experiences, whether it’s in a professional capacity or related to a specific event or issue. Opportunities are provided to train staff to offer assistance to their peers.
Approximately 20 hours of curriculum happens in small groups and includes sessions on the following topics, to name but a few:
- Motivational interviewing – designed to guide people to motivate themselves to make positive changes
- Trauma-informed care – encourages the understanding of how trauma impacts a person’s life experiences and creating a safe environment in which they can receive effective care
- Active listening skills
- Coping mechanisms
- Suicide awareness and prevention
Professional Development: Give an Hour also wants to guarantee the longevity of mental health care providers by ensuring there is a competent provider workforce. Courses may include:
- Clinical supervision
- Cultural competency
- The brain and trauma
- Secondary trauma
- Motivational interviewing
Hope for the Future
Give an Hour’s new training department makes it possible for individuals and organizations to have the opportunity to lean new skills and develop healthy habits centered around wellness.
“We exist because there’s a need,” Ebony said. “I hope this model will continue to grow until wellness and connection are just part of the way we live.”
Emotional Wellbeing Training Center Survey
