SAFE Mental Health and Wellbeing Conversation Skills
Three-Hours Workshop - F2F or Virtual
The “SAFE Mental Health and Wellbeing Conversation Skills” workshop is a three-hour in-person or virtual interactive session led by Bill Carson, a certified master mental health first aid instructor and resilience coach.
The workshop aims to equip managers and leaders with the skills to engage in compassionate and person-centered conversations with team members who may be experiencing mental and emotional challenges or difficulties.
The training focuses on separating personal issues from performance issues, understanding the continuum of mental health and illness/injury, recognizing signs of struggle, building trust and empathy, asking appropriate questions, active listening, empowering individuals to seek assistance, and managing one’s own self-care. The workshop provides customized activities, extensive skills practice, and additional resources for managers to cultivate an authentic and caring workplace culture.
This does not teach managers to be doctors or therapists, but how to turn down their problem-solving and advice-giving brain to engage in an appropriate conversation to empower the other person to come their own awareness of their situation and the resources available to support them.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Mental health continuum: Understanding the continuum of mental health and illness/injury helps managers recognize signs of struggle and respond appropriately.
- Human responses to stress and uncertainty: Managers learn to identify and understand the negative and positive ways individuals respond to stress, change, anxiety, burnout, isolation, and loss of control/autonomy.
- S.A.F.E conversation framework: The workshop introduces the S.A.F.E framework (Self-awareness, Acknowledge and Ask, Focus on Listening, Empower) to guide compassionate conversations and empower team members to seek appropriate support.
- Building trust and empathy: Managers gain insights into building trust and rapport through empathy, understanding the difference between empathy and sympathy, and practicing active listening.
- Self-care for managers: The workshop emphasizes the importance of self-care for managers, providing guidance on managing their own well-being while supporting their teams.
Overall, the workshop equips managers with the necessary skills to have meaningful conversations, identify signs of struggle, connect team members with relevant resources, and contribute to a more engaged and committed work culture.
What Others have experienced
- 1.“I really appreciated the practical approach that Bill took with real life examples
- 2. Great facilitator - has been very good working with Bill.
- 3. Bill is a very clear and knowledgeable course facilitator.
- 4. The big thing I will do differently is when discussing an issue with someone is avoid going into solutions mode and focus more on them, and ask more questions to get them thinking about their own solutions
- 5. Be aware of my conversations with others - ensure I do not refer back to self but rather listen and ask many open-ended questions to help the person be empowered rather than disempowered.
- 6. Ask more questions, refraining from solution mode and check in as much as needed.”
- 1. “Bill was an excellent facilitator and coach, taking the time to ensure everyone was clear and on the journey. He allowed space for questions and time to think which are key when learning effectively online
- 2. Bill was very good, asked us a lot of questions and was quite knowledgeable.
- 3. Bill was a fantastic course leader. He was incredibly personable and made us feel comfortable throughout. I would highly recommend Bill in the future.
- 4. Bill was absolutely fantastic. He was engaging, incredibly informed and had a relaxed yet professional style. He made us comfortable in asking questions and went at the pace we needed.
- 5. Be aware of my conversations with others - ensure I do not refer back to self but rather listen and ask many open-ended questions to help the person be empowered rather than disempowered.
- 5. Bill was engaging and created a safe space to have honest and robust conversations. Bill presented the content in a conversational manner making it easy to follow and understand.