by Nicole Weis 

A year and a half ago we entered the COVID-19 pandemic and were soon faced with the multifaceted challenges that resulted. Today, we are still in a crisis, though the trajectory of the pandemic has changed, and we have adapted to the need for masks and other safety measures. We now face the crisis of a prolonged disaster and the new challenges that have emerged since the pandemic began. Community and organizational leaders are facing the challenge of supporting a workforce and society that has been experiencing an almost two-year trauma. These challenges include high levels of burnout and compassion fatigue, physical and mental exhaustion, unawareness of the impact of stress and trauma, and a struggle to instill self-care and foster resilience within ourselves and others.

While affiliates and staff of the Institute have long provided one-off trainings focused on these topics, in the last year the Institute began to formally offer resilience-based trainings and workshops to organizations throughout the country. Workshops have been provided to victim’s advocacy groups, legal practices, parent groups, leadership initiatives, emergency response organizations, and counseling services. As stress and trauma impact many professions and organizations, employees benefit from becoming trauma and resilience informed. Workshops and trainings provide an understanding of the effects of stress, as well as the knowledge and skills needed for individuals to build and foster resilience within themselves and their organization. Ensuring that a workforce is trauma-informed and resilience-informed can reduce burnout, primary and secondary traumatic stress, and negative health outcomes related to stress within the workplace. In turn, this can reduce employee turnover and build trust and support within the organization.

Some organizations have found it challenging to find trainings that directly apply to the needs and culture of their specific workforce. When creating a training or workshop, a team member from the Community Training and Empowerment division first meets with organization leaders to determine their specific needs and experiences. The training and accompanying workbook are then customized to address these challenges. This approach ensures that the content contained within the training can be directly applied to the organization, and that the tools received, and skills learned are appropriate and useable by the workers being trained.

If you would like to learn more about the importance of resilience training and how the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience can help your organization become more resilient, contact Nicole Weis at nweis@uccs.edu. 

Below you can find feedback from training participants:

“I like how engaged the presenter was and that she could react to our comments in real time. It felt that she made this much more of a discussion rather than lecture”

“I appreciated [the presenter] taking the time to relate the materials presented to the specific questions raised by the staff.”

“Many trauma trainings that I have attended in past are too touchy feely and don't always provide concrete and practical coping mechanisms or advice for dealing with clients who are in traumatic situations or struggling with mental health. This training gave me actual practical tips that I could apply. Also liked the reminders that I have to cope with stressors of serving others who are struggling and gave me some additional ideas how I personally can better cope. I also really appreciated that suicide was actually addressed. No one has ever told me what to do or how to deal with a person who is having suicidal thoughts. VERY HELPFUL.”