Professional Development

Inspirational Leadership

In a world where the demands on supervisors and upper management are ever increasing, the need for a practical and inspired approach to leadership is desperately needed. In this lively and experiential workshop participants are encouraged to expand their view of leadership to include a value-based perspective.

Value-based leadership training helps leaders become aware of how they can use the common values to inspire the people they lead. This approach helps raise both the leader and the followers to a whole new level of performance, dedication and fulfillment.

The Art of Building a Team

In this workshop participants are introduced to the key concepts and skills necessary to build a cohesive and productive team within their work place. Participants will explore the various aspects of creating a vibrant team culture as they navigate their way though a dynamic series of activities, obstacles and initiatives designed to challenge and expand their understanding of belonging to, building and managing professional teams. Participants will leave this experience with a set of practical skills and activities that they can use immediately! The information learned in this workshop can be applied to various types of professional and volunteer teams and will prove to be a positive addition to any organization or business.

Dynamic Communication

Of all the skills necessary for a work team to be successful, communication is surely among the most important. Without strong communication skills misunderstandings are inevitable. The negative impacts can become integrated into an organizations culture and include resentment, under productivity, lack of dedication and an overall sense of under appreciation. This experiential workshop will equip your team with new skills to improve communication, promote cohesiveness, and boost productivity at all levels of the organization.

Increasing Motivation & Engagement

Help your team boost their individual and collective motivation in this challenged filled and enjoyable workshop! Through a combination of introspection, discussion and experiential challenges participants will learn about motivational needs and how to used them to increase productivity and engagement.

Leading Strategic Planning

This hands on workshop will teach specific techniques and activities that can be used to lead a small to mid-sized group through a collaborative planning process. Participants will be taught skills related to Vision & Mission Statement Creation, Identifying Road Blocks & Solutions, Root Cause Analysis, Needs Assessments and other techniques that can help turn ideas into easy to follow plans. Note: This workshop is designed for those in leadership and management positions. The content covered in each workshop will be adjusted to meet the prior knowledge of the participants. It is assumed that participants in this workshop are already skilled in the area of Group Facilitation.

The Flip Side of Conflict!

For most people, conflict is a bad thing- a sign of failure, dysfunction or irreconcilable differences. This perspective leads to the unnecessary breakdown of so many valuable work relationships. This experiential workshop will help participants develop a better understanding of the root causes of conflict and the natural stages groups go through during their time together. They will be equipped with strategies and skills to work through those stages in a way that strengthens groups and minimizes unproductive conflict. Participants should be prepared for physical activity, group discussion, problem solving, and role plays!

Resolving Workplace Conflicts

For many leaders, conflict is a bad thing- a sign of failure, dysfunction or irreconcilable differences. To some if even represents a failure on the part of the leader. This experiential workshop will teach leaders how to better understand the root causes of conflict and how to help their team through this challenging time.

A specific focus will be on equipping leaders with useful interpersonal, management and team strategies that minimize unproductive conflict. Included will be a strong focus on mediation skills and group facilitation strategies for individuals and groups. An essential workshop for every leader!

Mediation for Groups in Conflict

Rather than letting unproductive conflict erode working relationships this opportunity allows two or more parties to use a mediated approach to working through disagreements. Highly effective in resolving or preventing conflict our trained staff mediator will support parties through all stages of the process including pre-mediation interviews, mediation guidelines, mediation and post-mediation agreements.

Introduction to Group Facilitation

This workshop is designed specifically for those who have little prior experience in group facilitation. Through a combination of group discussion, role play and practice exercises participants will learn the key skills needed to effectively lead a group through a discussion- including public speaking essentials, setting group guidelines, leading talking circles and brainstorming sessions, recording participant responses and dealing with difficult personalities.

Creative Debriefing Techniques

Good debriefing skills are absolutely essential for those working with youth- especially for those in therapeutic settings. Helping youth process an experience in a way that leads to greater understanding and insight can do so much to support a client along in their life journey. This workshop will show practical activity centered approaches that can be used to keep debriefing enjoyable for all involved!

How to Lead Adventure Learning Programming

Infuse some life and energy into your usual group sessions! In this engaging workshop participants will learn the essential components of creating an Adventure Learning group session with youth. Our certified staff will take the group through the process of identifying a topic, incorporating new information, leading group discussion and physical problem solving activities related to their topic. The workshop will include a practicum where participants will create, and present a group session of their own and receive valuable feedback from staff and other participants.

Reaching In, Reaching Out: Building Resiliency in Children

RIRO supports children's resilience by training adults how to role model thinking and coping strategies while simultaneously enhancing adult-child relationships.

Designed to reach young children from birth to seven years, RIRO works by laying a strong foundation of thinking and coping skills that support resilience in the adults who care for and work with them. RIRO teaches "3Rs of Resilience" skills to help Relax, Reflect and Respond effectively to life's challenges.

The resiliency skills help adults and children develop several critical abilities associated with resilience:

• Being in charge of our emotions
• Controlling our impulses
• Analyzing the cause of problems
• Empathizing with others
• Believing in our competence
• Maintaining realistic optimism
• Reaching out to others and opportunities

RIRO training gives professionals skills and theory to support a relationship-based reflective practice and provides a framework for creating a "culture of resilience" in programs serving young children.

Establishing Healthy Boundaries

Youth who find themselves in therapeutic settings quite often have challenges in setting and enforcing personal boundaries. This workshops examines the difference between boundaries and walls, explains the connection between setting boundaries and self-esteem and teaches a very practical approach to teaching youth how to set boundaries. Through the use of role plays, discussion and group activities staff will be challenged both personally and professionally and equipped with practical approaches to address this very important topic with their youth.

Teaching Core Identity Needs

Through a series of reflective exercises, demonstrations, stories and discussions this workshop introduces participants to the fundamental concepts of Core Identity Needs and relates it to understanding the behaviours of others, with a specific emphasis on youth. Focus will then shift to practicing approaches to teaching youth this concept in order for them to develop a greater understanding of self and others.

Healing through Creativity

This workshop teaches staff how to use a variety of creative artistic expressions to promote reflection, self-understanding and healing within the youth they service. The approach is taught by leading participants through their own healing experiences and then reflecting on customizing the process to the specific needs of the youth they service.

Mental Health & Introductory Counselling

Having strong interpersonal skills is essential for all people who work with youth. Included in this skill set should be a strong sense of how to handle youth in crisis, reflective listening techniques, barriers and bridges to communication and a general sense of mental health conditions. See the Mental Health & Introductory Counseling section for more details. An effective and popular approach that is used to teach these skills involves introducing theory and skills through participant acted role plays followed by a practicum experience where youth actors come to the group home or treatment centre and bring to life real life scenarios for staff to practice their skills. The feedback received from youth, colleagues and trainers becomes an invaluable tool that can greatly improve effectiveness!