Your Mental Health At Work

Posted by: Dawn Schell on July 22, 2015 12:02 pm

Where do you spend most of your time? I don’t know about you but I spend it at work. Don’t we all spend more of our waking hours at work than anywhere else? Wouldn’t it be great if our workplaces were places where mental health and wellbeing was a priority?

The statistics on workplace mental health issues are sobering. According to the Mental Health Commission of Canada, in any given week close to 500,000 Canadians will miss work because of a mental health concern or illness. 30 % of disability claims in Canada are related to mental health issues. The cost to the economy is in the billions. The cost in human terms is incalculable. Much of this could be avoided by ensuring our workplaces are mentally healthy places to be.

How do we go about doing that? In January 2013 Canada launched The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) is the first of its kind in the world. “The Standard is a document that outlines a systematic approach to develop and sustain a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. It focuses on mental illness prevention and mental health promotion. The Standard is intended for everyone, whether or not they live with a mental illness”. [1]

The Mental Health Commission has resources, evaluation tools, webinars and video testimonials from champion organizations that have adopted the Standard. It’s practical and offers sensible easy suggestions for implementation.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

An Online Summer Reading List

Posted by: Dawn Schell on July 14, 2015 2:36 pm

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Summer is the perfect time for catching up on all that reading you intended to do in the fall and winter. A time to curl up on the nearest deck chair and luxuriate in reading.

What’s on my list this summer?

Well, for starters – the entire issue of the British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, Volume 43, Issue 1, which was published in January 2015.

The editors, Goss and Hooley, say this issue on Online Practice in Counselling and Guidance, “looks at the impact of the online environment on the practice of guidance, counselling, psychotherapy and related services…. it explores…ongoing (technological) changes and in places looks forward to ways in which the future development of the disciplines might be influenced by current technological trends”.

Written from several different perspectives I can see it will be a very thought provoking read. Continue reading →

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

FaceTime – Eww!

Posted by: Dawn Schell on July 9, 2015 12:00 pm

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While some of us are happily embracing every form of social media and software that allows us to communicate with others (e.g. FaceTime and Skype), others are staying as far away from it all as possible. It’s not because they are Luddites who want to avoid the use of technology; it seems to be more about personality type.

The other day a friend told me she had given up her landline. “I thought having a cell phone would be liberating. No more having to be in one place. I can talk anywhere I want. I can be outside going for a walk. I thought it would be great. But you know what? I don’t actually like talking on the phone. I never have.” She shuddered. “I feel like I have to have my phone with me but I don’t actually want anyone to call me.” I noticed her cell phone was nowhere in sight.
It wasn’t just that she didn’t want to answer the phone. She has taken to avoiding FaceTime and Skype as well. Family members and friends who live at a distance use both as a way to keep in touch. Getting an unexpected call, she said, is stressful. If a call comes in she will politely hand it over to her children.

While she uses social networking sites she also keeps those to a minimum. To use Myers-Briggs language, my friend is someone with a strong preference for Introversion and finds all of these methods of communicating overwhelming at times.
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Being Digitally Aware

Posted by: Dawn Schell on June 10, 2015 2:03 pm

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You have a Facebook page designed for your professional practice. You notice that one of the followers is a current client. They post many comments that identify themselves as your client. How would you handle this?

In this day and age of social networking this is an increasingly likely scenario. And if we are to be good digital citizens and demonstrate our e-professionalism we need to think about how to handle social media ethically.

What are the options for handling the above-mentioned situation ethically while working to maintain the relationship with the client? We could ‘block’ our client but what are the implications of that action for our relationship? Or would it draw even more attention to them? Do we post something publicly that addresses the client’s comments? Or..?

Our CCPA Code of Ethics (B 2) states, “Counselling relationships and information resulting therefrom are kept confidential.”

Hmm. How to preserve the client’s confidentiality and actually put a stop to the situation?

There is no easy answer for how to resolve this scenario!
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Happy Birthday to Us!

Posted by: Dawn Schell on June 3, 2015 8:46 am

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50. The CCPA is 50 years old!

Imagine all that has changed since 1965…

Vehicles, medical breakthroughs, space exploration, job titles, prices, environmental concerns, clothing styles (though some of them keep coming back!), phones, computers, technology, the Internet…to name a few.

Whew.

Attitudes towards counselling have changed. Not to mention where and how counselling takes place. Mental health and wellbeing is an increasingly important conversation in workplaces and communities.

Yup. A lot has changed.

And now imagine all that hasn’t changed ….

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

A Gen-Y Perspective on E-Mental Health

Posted by: Dawn Schell on May 1, 2015 2:21 pm

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One might expect that Generation Y, the “digital natives” would be the quickest to embrace e-Mental Health. But what do they really think about the use of technology in counselling?

Two recent studies[1] examined the preferences of youth when it comes to e-Mental Health interventions.

Mar, et. al (2014), looked at “youth consumer preferences for online interventions targeting depression and anxiety”. Interviews with 23 youth were focused around the question, ‘‘If there was a website available for individuals with mood disorders or anxiety, what would you want it to look like?’’

What did they learn?

Participants preferred professional support to be delivered over online chat, though e-mail was acceptable to some. Participants viewed professionals as a support to access after peers.

Privacy was seen as a serious concern and was linked to stigma around others finding out about their mental health concern.

Participants believed having an online community of others with similar problems could help create feelings that they are not alone and provide opportunities to share stories and artwork. Interestingly, “although participants wanted support and a human connection, they also valued privacy and anonymity”.

Paradox? Or is this the strength of e-Mental Health that both are possible?
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Blog Posts are for Sharing

Posted by: Dawn Schell on April 22, 2015 10:12 am

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I have favourite bloggers whose work I regularly read and enjoy. The bloggers are friends, counsellors, writers, lawyers, artists, students, teachers, business leaders, coaches,…the list goes on. They come from a variety of age groups and I find the writers to be creative, inspiring, fun, humorous, playful, and thought-provoking.

As I read I often find posts that I think are worth sharing with clients. The response when I have done so has invariably been positive. Some clients have then shared the posts with others. Which tells me it’s hit a chord.

In sharing these posts with clients I am careful to state that my sharing is not meant as a wholehearted endorsement of everything on the site. I share what I think is relevant and I let clients know why I think this might be relevant for them to read.

Here are a few of my favourites:

This mother talks about how one sentence changed the way she interacts with her family. It is a post that I have often thought about, referred back to and shared.

The six words? “I love to watch you play”
http://www.handsfreemama.com/2012/04/16/six-words-you-should-say-today/
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Healthy Minds AKA Yet Another App

Posted by: Dawn Schell on March 25, 2015 12:00 pm

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I know, I know. Yet another app. This is no ordinary app though. The Royal[1], “one of Canada’s foremost mental health care and academic health sciences centres”, developed the Healthy Minds app[2]. Aimed at post-secondary students, Healthy Minds is “a problem-solving tool to help deal with emotions and cope with the stresses you encounter both on and off campus.”

When you download Healthy Minds it opens with a short explanatory video showing you how to make best use of the app. The authors of the app ask that you do three things – think about one problem you want to focus on, write what led to the problem, what thoughts, feelings and behaviours this problem caused and what happened after the problem. Why? As Dr. Simon Hatcher says in the video, “So you can change how you react in the future”.

In the Mood section you are prompted with a “how are you feeling?” and you can choose from nine moods. When you click on the submit button you are then sent to a text box where you can write about “what happened before you felt this way”. You can even add a photo if you wish. Once you submit this text, depending on the emotion you chose, you there are helpful suggestions. For example, if you choose “angry” you will be asked if you want to take a moment to try the Breathe activity.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Canada’s E-Mental Health Status Update

Posted by: Dawn Schell on March 16, 2015 12:44 pm

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Last year the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) published a briefing document on “E-Mental Health in Canada”. It is a worthwhile read. You can check it out here – MHCC E-Mental Health briefing

The aim of this document is to “describe e-Mental health in Canada and to outline the potential that technology has in transforming the delivery of mental health services.” This briefing paper is intended to inform practitioners, policy makers, funders, academics, researchers and those who develop e-Mental health technologies. The MHCC wanted to highlight “…tremendous possibilities for new technology in promoting mental health and preventing mental health problems.”

The definition of e-Mental health? The MHCC defines it as “…mental health services and information delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies” which includes “…telephone, videoconferencing, web-based interventions, interventions using mobile devices, patient monitoring sensors, social media, virtual reality and gaming.” I think that about covers it!

In thirty-six easily accessible pages the MHCC provides us with an excellent snapshot of the state of e-Mental health in Canada. It’s interesting to see just how far we have come in the past few years in this regard.

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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

Textish Counselling – Part 1

Posted by: Dawn Schell on July 12, 2012 1:16 pm

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According to the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association Canadians send 227 million text messages per day. That’s 82,855,000,000/year.

Wow.

That is a whole lot of texting power that we mental health professionals might be able to tap into [no pun intended].

As you might expect the vast majority of these text messages are being sent by teens and young adults. The frequency of text messaging has increased year over year. In 2010 the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project reported that, amongst teens, the frequency of use of texting had overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends, including face-to-face interactions. [1]

And the ways in which texting is used have evolved as well. As a literature review of teenagers and texting points out, “multiple studies in various countries have been conducted on the content of young adults’ text messages, with similar results across studies. Many text messages have to do with coordination of events and maintaining relationships”. This is an area where texting might be useful for mental health initiatives.
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*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA

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