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In addition to providing individual and group holistic health counselling services, Laurie also provides workplace wellness programs. Laurie works with employers who are interested in supporting their staff’s health and wellness. Her holistic counselling services result in healthier staff, better team productivity, and fewer illness-related business costs. These workshops can be at any time length that works for your staff event. 2 hours? Half a day? Maybe a full day is what you need to really provide all the learning time and practice activities.
Laurie’s holistic health counselling programs give employees the chance to make a positive change to their health in the workplace, which boosts workplace morale and helps to create a healthier work environment for all. Laurie believes that optimum health begins and ends with food and improved mental health management.
Listed below are some ideas about possible staff workshops and retreats. Please know that you can mix and match the topics. That way you can ensure that your workshop will be the best fit for your staff's learning needs. Also, we can customize a learning event that is specific to your team. Do you have an idea that you want to explore?
Workshops and Retreats
Are you looking for a health professional that will inspire your staff and share innovative ways of learning self-care topics? In Laurie’s workshops and corporate retreats, your staff will gain health and wellness knowledge that will improve all areas of their lives.
Laurie offers either half or full day workshops/retreats on:
Restorative Self-Care for Trauma-Informed Counsellors
Self-Care Practices to Optimize Therapeutic Relationships
There is a growing expectation that counsellors and teachers work towards providing a more trauma-informed school setting. Plus, educational settings are moving towards delivering more social and emotional learning environments. As mental health professionals, when we provide these emotionally demanding services to children and families who have experienced developmental adversities, our self-care can take a hit. When we care too much, sometimes we tend to forget about our own self-care needs. Then there is the reality that when we listen to people's trauma stories, we can be mentally impacted. Stress behaviours and illness can surface when caregivers neglect their self-care practices. Then we might experience, apathy, isolation, pushed down emotions, overreacting, overeating, alcohol abuse, and family breakdown. These are some of the symptoms associated with the workplace secondary toxic stress state we call — Compassion Fatigue and Burnout.
When we are tired, when our psychological and physical energy is low, our therapeutic relationships suffer.
As trained counsellors, we know the importance of relationships. It is within our relationships where we provide a sacred space for healing. Without that safe, attentive, present space, what do we have? How can we support others on their healing journey when we are on the edge of burnout and have very little left to give?
In order to thrive professionally and personally, helping professionals need a new more restorative lifestyle approach.
At this Restorative Self-Care Workshop, the topics we will discuss are:
- Our self-care and its role in the therapeutic relationship.
- How to positively optimize your Therapeutic Sense of Self for better therapeutic outcomes.
- The neuroscience of improved self-care.
- When it’s your job to take care of others, who takes care of you?
- How to do your own self-care assessments and energy audits
- A deeper way of understanding restorative self-care as opposed to using avoidance tactics. Such as screen time, shopping, eating, wine, etc.
- Our nervous system arousal states and how this impacts our self-care.
- How to know when you are caught in a stress cycle.
- Sleep — its role in mental health, mood management and self-care.
- Mindfulness and Self Compassion – tools to increase self-care and calmness.
- Exercise – The role of movement in our stress management and self-care.
- Nature Therapy — Are you getting enough vitamin N?
Holistic Self-Care and Breaking the Stress Cycle For the Helping Profession
Many of us have high-stress jobs and lives. Are you working in the helping profession? Are you a social worker, mental health counsellor, teacher or do you work in the health or justice system? Most people who have worked in these types of professions are well aware of how vital self-care is, but we often don't take the time necessary to develop and then participate in our self-care plans. This workshop is a great professional development day.
During this workshop, you will learn about:
- What is Stress? The good and the bad. The obvious and hidden.
- The human stress response. Fight, flight and freeze.
- Our Human Arousal States and how this impacts our self-care.
- How to know when you are caught in a stress cycle.
- The energy vs. tension equation and its role in self-care.
- The role of holistic nutrition in your self-care plan.
- Sleep - its role in mental health, mood management and self- care.
- Mindfulness and Self Compassion - tools to increase self- care and calmness.
- Exercise - The role of movement in our stress management and self-care.
- Nature Therapy – Are you getting enough vitamin N?
- How to develop a personalized self –care toolkit.
Nutrition and Mental Health Connection
As a mental health or teaching professional, have you ever wondered if the foods on our plates are impacting our mental health, the presentation of concerning behaviours and mental illness symptoms? Have you ever wondered if nutrition can impact the stress levels of our children, their anxiety, and their ability to stay on task?
Well, the answer is yes it does! Nutrition and its impact on our mental health have been studied, and as a result, new disciplines have been developed. Nutritional Neuroscience and Nutritional Psychiatry are emerging disciplines shedding light on the fact that nutritional factors are intertwined with human cognition, behaviour, and emotions. The research suggests that when people make nutrition adjustments, they live better with high stress, depression, mood regulation, anxiety and attention struggles.
The nutrition and mental health connections are real. During this workshop you will learn about:
- How we make feel-good brain chemicals from the foods that we eat.
- Foods and combinations of foods that are mood stabilizers.
- How vitamin, mineral and essential fatty acids deficiencies impact brain health and mental health symptoms.
- Foods and combinations of foods to avoid because they make us anxious and deregulate our moods.
- Sugar: Why the human brain loves it. How too much sugar impacts our mental health and mood regulation.
- Meal and snack schedules that can help keep you, your family members, students, clients and program participants feeling happy and healthy.
- The important roles protein, fats, and healthy carbohydrates play in our mental health management.
- Takeaway tips to help you make a better food and mood connection.
- Takeaway tips to better support your self-care.
