Pre-Conference Workshops
Wednesday, September 22
Participants can choose to register for one of the full-day, pre-conference workshops offered on Wednesday, September 22. Please see the registration information for details.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP #1: The Beauty of Coping for overall mental wellness: Using the Dialectical Therapeutic Model - “ACCEPTS” - Part I
Social emotional learning provides a solid foundation for overall mental wellness. Social Emotional Learnings’ attributes of self and social awareness, self-regulation, relationship skills, and responsible decision making would enable not only resiliency, but also continuous social and emotional growth and development. The challenge with any of these attributes is that the brain needs to be open and fully operational to enable us to be receptive to learning and imbedding in these core attributes. Yet, when a perceived challenge or stressor arises, the part of our brain that accesses wisdom has a tendency to shut down, and we have less capacity for social emotional competency. This is where the art and beauty of coping is essential. Coping strategies provide a means to help our brains return to a state of openness, regaining our capacity to implement self-regulation, relationships skills and responsible decision making. This “Beauty of Coping” workshop will look at a variety of age appropriate, fun and meaningful coping strategies to use with children, youth and for ourselves as care-givers. We will be using the Dialectical Behavior Therapeutic model known as “ACCEPTS” to dive deep into some of these very practical and proven coping tools. The focus of ACCEPTS is seeing coping as a means of distress tolerance as opposed to distress avoidance. Our sources of stress cannot always be avoided, removed or adapted, we sometimes need to find healthy ways to accept and cope with all the various stressors in our lives. The key learning take away from this workshops, in its most basic premise, is to build a toolbox of ideas to help ourselves and our clients cope with these various forms of sources of discomfort and stress in our life.
Facilitator: Sheldon Franken, MA, Director/Owner, Inquiry Adventures and School Counsellor, Vancouver School Board, Vancouver, British Columbia Zoom Information: Login information will be sent closer to the event.
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP #1: PART II
The combination of DBT and EQ is an especially powerful one for coaching and training leaders in this moment. After more than 18 months of Covid-19-related interruptions to regular patterns of work and socialization, most people are coping with high amounts of stress. In times of challenge and stress, the part of our brain that accesses wisdom tends to shut down, and as a result we have less capacity for social emotional competency. Using DBT skills as coping strategies provides a means to help our brains return to a state of openness, regaining our capacity to implement self-regulation. Raising our awareness of EQ provides a solid foundation for overall mental wellness. The EQ framework is behavior based on self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management and is intended to provide “the ability to identify, assess and control ones’ own emotions, the emotion of others and that of groups.” Working with leaders to understand how stress and trauma affect our internal systems and our interpersonal relationships is a key component of Sherry’s leadership facilitation
Presenter: Sherry Lovely, Owner and Operator, Fireweed Coaching and Consulting, Edmonton, Alberta
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP #2: “Trauma, Substance Use and Addictions (Crystal Meth, Mental Health & Traumatization: Navigating the Complexities of Individuals who use Methamphetamines)”
Described as a healthcare crisis in many parts of Canada, the use of crystal meth is associated with dramatic disruption to the physical, mental and social well-being of individuals, their families and communities. For health and social service workers, differentiating between the complicated mental health challenges that can occur with methamphetamine use and substance use behaviours can be challenging. Often those trying to help are at a loss to know how best to reach out to individuals who are apparently frozen in the cycle of an addictive lifestyle. In this workshop, participants will gain a rich understanding of the world of methamphetamine use and how to effectively provide services to individuals experiencing crystal meth addiction. Through a person-centered, evidence- based lens, this exploration will involve lively presentation, small group work, and the use of real case studies. Sub -topics will include the acute mental health diagnoses associated with crystal meth use, service utilization challenges and the loss and traumatization methamphetamine users often experience. Terms such as “Falling through the cracks” and “A game of table tennis” are common in social and mental health services as providers are forced to try and shift clients back and forth to programs based on their narrow mandates. In the experience of many providers, their agencies may not be equipped to assist an individual who has both a trauma diagnosis and a substance use disorder, thus it is necessary to involve more programs or agencies. In this shuffling, clients become lost and fail to find the help they need. Despite this experience across many parts of Canada, there exist prominent examples of cohesive service provision structures where agencies with differing mandates work together closely for the purpose of ensuring no client “Falls through the cracks”. In this session, several examples from rural Manitoba will be discussed and lessons drawn on how others in even urban locations can collaborate more effectively in order to benefit long term client care outcomes.
Facilitator: John Jackson, RPN, BScPN, MPN, Executive Director, Samaritan House Ministries, Brandon, Manitoba
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP #3: “Mental Health, Addictions and Healing Through an Indigenous Lens”
This session is an overview of how mental health, addictions and healing are perceived through an Indigenous lens. The major differences and similarities between an Indigenous perspective and Western World view will be examined. Ernie will show Cree medicines from each quadrant of the medicine wheel and explain the. He will be sharing an Indigenized approach to supporting those with co-occurring disorders – mental health and addictions. A few of the topics to be covered include: • What is co-occurring disorders? • What does an Indigenous perspective on co-occurring disorders look like? • How do Indigenous ways differ than a non-Indigenous ways when it comes to supporting those with co-occurring disorders
Presenter: Ernie Cardinal, BACYCC, Program Manager, Spirit of the Children Society, New Westminster, British Columbia