AHP is offering no-cost, tailored 1.5-hour self-care virtual workshops, “Soar with Self-Care: Refuel Your Team’s Wellbeing," to Illinois-based health and human service organizations. Each workshop is offered individually to an organization and its staff. The workshops support organization morale, build a sense of community and peer support, and demonstrate to staff that the leaders care about their personal wellbeing. Workshops are available on a first-come first-served basis, from May through December 2022. To learn more, go to Soar with Self-Care: Refuel Your Team’s Wellbeing. 

 

Each interactive training is led by three behavioral health professionals—two licensed therapists and a mental health, diversity, equity, and inclusion expert—who are all subject matter experts in emotional well-being and self-care. This workshop offers participants the chance to 

 

• Explore the three core components of self-care

• Creatively assess areas of life that feel energized and depleted

• Practice self-care strategies to refuel and reenergize

• Apply a simple approach to developing a regular self-care practice

 

“Many employees across the nation report burnout, anxiety, hypervigilance, and worries about their health and the health of their families and clients,” explains Tara Fischer, AHP Senior Program Manager and licensed social worker. “In response, we are providing care for caregivers that costs the organization and staff nothing. Their work is a gift to society, so this is a gift back to them.”

 

Health and human service providers are at high risk of work-related exhaustion such as burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue. The pandemic has raised these problems to critical levels, and the traumatic nature of the pandemic has had a lasting impact. 

 

At the same time, Illinois communities greatly need more staff in fields such as behavioral health, emergency services, social work, residential care, hospital personnel and more. Organizations cannot afford to lose more staff, but how do they keep them?

 

“This training helps staff discover ways to ensure their own physical and emotional well-being,” says Pat Tucker, AHP Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “We offer this at no charge to ensure any organization can participate and bolster their staff.”

 

A recent Illinois participant noted, "I really appreciated the non-judgmental space the presenters created regarding self-care. I find it so easy to berate myself for not being ’better at self-care,’ and in other provider burn-out trainings I've taken, the content and tone also tend to be critical. The presenters gently and compassionately provided the information and tools to improve self-care, so I felt more empowered to create a self-care plan while also being kinder to myself."

 

All interested health and human services organizations based in Illinois should sign up today. Space is very limited and training ends in December 2022.

 

The training is sponsored by the Illinois Department of Human Services Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery and is funded by an Emergency COVID-19 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.