ComPsych Wellness Workshops

Human resources is expanding its commitment to employee well‑being with a new slate of free, virtual workshops offered through ComPsych GuidanceResources®. These programs are available to all permanent faculty and staff, as well as their dependents.

To register for upcoming workshops, please visit human resources’ calendar of events.

Workshops

Where Are You Going? Goal Setting for Personal and Professional Success

Goal setting gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. The process of setting goals allows you to choose where you want to go in your personal life as well as your professional career. A life without goals is like a road trip without a map. By knowing exactly what you want to achieve, you are less likely to get lost, and you will be happier and less frustrated along the way.

Eating Healthy on a Budget

No matter what your financial situation is, everyone looks for ways to cut down their grocery bills. Don’t let the idea that healthy food is expensive keep you from striving for a balanced diet. Take some time to learn new strategies to stick to your budget while enjoying healthy, nutritious foods.

Managing Personal Finances

Are money concerns causing stress? Do you find yourself buying things just because they’re on sale, carrying credit card balances, or wishing you could save more? Financial pressure is one of the biggest stressors people face — but it doesn’t have to stay that way. This workshop will help demystify your finances, give you practical tools, and support you in moving beyond paycheck-to-paycheck living.

Running on “E:” Adding Energy and Passion to Your Work and Life

Longer hours, increased responsibilities, constant change, intensified pressure…but this doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and enjoy your work. This workshop will help you survive and also thrive in today’s high-pressure world. By unleashing your energy, igniting your enthusiasm and finding fun in your job, you’re sure to maximize your work performance and even enjoy it!

Sleep: an Essential Component of Health and Well-Being

While many people look towards improving their health via diet, exercise, and ceasing bad consumption habits (e.g., junk food, cigarettes), sleep is often overlooked—or is it? Sleep medications will surpass $5 billion in annual sales within the next year. This workshop provides the latest research findings regarding the importance of sleep and offers participants suggestions on how to improve their sleep according to priority and quality measures.

Happiness: A Key to Life’s Satisfaction

Why do some people seem happy and others just seem miserable all the time? Science suggests that each person has a range in their capacity to experience happiness, and that range is different for each person. However, it is possible to live our lives in the upper end of that range if we apply ourselves and follow certain principles. There is no one key to happiness, but a set of principles that are critical to follow. This training incorporates a brief happiness questionnaire, a description of the various factors associated with happiness, and concludes with a substantive discussion of specific ways to increase your happiness potential.

Walking for Mental Health

Walking is a common source of exercise for many people, and it has well-recognized physical health benefits. But did you know there are mental health benefits to walking, too? Anyone who walks for any reason could also be enjoying these benefits. This session will look at the benefits of meditative walking and walking in nature. Participants will review ideas for getting started with both types of walks, as well as labyrinth walking. The possible benefits of walking barefoot in grass, known as “grounding,” will also be presented.

How to Receive Criticism and Make it Work for You

Receiving criticism is an important and valuable skill. To achieve success in any endeavour, we must be able to tolerate critical feedback and learn from it. However, receiving criticism is difficult for most people. Upon receiving criticism we feel vulnerable and become defensive and thereby miss opportunities to benefit from feedback. This workshop will help you explore why we become defensive, deliver tips for knowing when your “hot button” has been pushed and how to accept and integrate useful criticism. The training will also instruct though examples and/or role plays.

Get Moving: An Introduction to Exercise

The exercise and fitness industry today is saturated with new equipment, technology, and ever-changing trends. Exercise doesn’t have to be and should not be so complicated. In this workshop, we revisit the basic concepts of exercise, the benefits of exercise, types of exercise, and how to begin and progress your exercise program safely.

Laughter, Humor and Play to Reduce Stress and Solve Problems

Professional comedians shouldn’t be the only people to use smiling, laughter, humor, and play as part of their daily routine. These skills are valuable for everyone. A good smile has long been a key tool for anyone who needs to influence others. Laughter is now shown to improve our pain tolerance. Humor and play can be the building blocks of problem-solving. Together, they can improve our happiness and effectiveness.

10 Strategies for Improving Your Personal Finances

The current economic climate brings both challenges and opportunities from a financial perspective. You may wonder during these challenging times: “What should I be most careful about?” and “What should my family and I work towards?” The 10 financial tips discussed in this workshop will get you on the road to financial well-being during challenging times.

School’s Out: Getting Everyone Through the Summer

It is summertime, and school is out! For many people, summer conjures images of lazy, relaxing days at the beach. However, for many working families, summer brings the challenges of balancing the demands of adult work schedules with the desire to provide safe, fun activities for children. This workshop offers several ideas on summer activities and provides practical suggestions on how to keep your kids safe while you’re at work.

Suicide Awareness

September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month and September 10, is observed as World Suicide Prevention Day. This workshop demystifies suicide through a discussion of why it occurs, the risk factors associated with suicide, and how to intervene with those who are suicidal or potentially suicidal.

Being Adaptive in an Ever-Changing World

In our ever-changing world, we are seeing shifts in our markets and economies, our cultural norms, our behaviors and ourselves. Now is the time to thrive by learning how to be adaptive and to be consistently able to change yourself to accommodate and maximize the benefits of change.

Mental Health Awareness

World Mental Health Day is observed on October 10. This workshop is designed to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and to provide ways of supporting one another in the workplace. The session will address signs and symptoms of distress and effective ways of provisioning support for co-workers.

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Psychological safety allows a person to be themselves, which strengthens morale, sense of belonging and employee retention. This workshop will discuss how leaders can foster a psychological safe environment, and explore why people may feel psychologically unsafe without their leaders even realizing it.

Self-Care Tips for Managers

Stressful situations, whether from internal or external sources, are inevitable in organizations. For some managers, this may lead to over-extending themselves with minimal time for self-care. This workshop offers tools to help managers cope with stress and thrive in their organizations.

Managing Holiday Stress

The holidays can be the happiest times of the year, yet it can also be one of the most stressful. Maintaining balance and keeping stress from overwhelming you are keys to an enjoyable holiday season. This workshop provides an overview of common stressors people encounter during the holidays, and offers tips to help you get the most possible enjoyment out of the season.

Learning to Relax

This workshop will explore a variety of relaxation techniques to calm the body and mind. Participants will learn and experience several simple relaxation tools such as progressive muscle relaxation, abdominal relaxation, breathing, and visualization.