Secondary Stress & Supporting Staff Resilience

PRESENTERS: KRISTIN WILSON, ANN THOMASSON, ANNA MEYER

BC DHHS RESILIENCY COORDINATORS

STRESS & RESILIENCE

RESILIENCE

Secondary Stress & Trauma

What are signs of secondary stress & trauma you see

in your office?

Acute Personal vs Acute Work

Cumulative and Chronic

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Sources of stress that take us out of our Resilient Zone

General/Daily Stress

Temporary dysregulation

Incident based Stress/Trauma

Dysregulation

Post traumatic stress

Acute PTSD (less than 3 months)

Cumulative & Chronic Stress/Trauma

Chronic dysregulation

Stress related disorders:

PTSD

Depression

Anxiety

Substance Misuse

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Outcomes of Unaddressed Acute, Cumulative, & Chronic Stress

Loss of Sleep, ruminating thoughts, inability to focus

Workers have a decreased sense of hope when working with their

families

Decreased capacity to respond to clients needs in a positive, effective

way

Decreased retention rate

Increased physical & mental health issues with workers

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Resilience = Better Quality Social Work Practice

Developing a Culture of Care, and an Organizational Care Model

Self-Care and Collective/Organizational Care

Organizational practices for collective recovery and resilience building

Policy & practices that support staff taking time needed for recovery from job related stress and/or personal stress

Self-Regulation vs. Co-Regulation

Organizational resources for individual support as needed.

Making a commitment to Trauma Awareness

Understanding the impact of historical trauma and oppression

Building a Culture of Trust

Building skills in giving and receiving feedback in effective waysBy BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Essential Elements of a Child Welfare Systemby CTISP Chadwick Trauma Informed Systems Dissemination and Implementation Project

Essential Elements of a Social Services System Care Model

Collaborate with agencies & systems

that interact with Social Services

workers

Maximize physical & psychological safety for Social Services

workers

Identify Trauma related needs of Social Services

workers

Enhance Social Services workers well

being & resilience

Enhance unit well being & resilience

Enhance the well-being & resilience of

the agency

Collaborate with colleagues

Social Services

Worker

Unit & Supervisor

Division

DSS Agency

Community

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

BC DSS Organizational Care Model

•SW and SWS Support Groups

•CISM Debriefings

•Kolb Learning Styles

•Trauma Informed Care Training

•Resiliency Coordinators

•Employment Assistance Network

•Meet & Greets

•Social/Fun Activities

•Supervision/Unit meetings

•Racial Equity dialogue

•Coaching on giving/receiving feedback

•Ongoing dialogue with management team

•Supervision

•Training –ie. NAPPI, SW Safety

•Threat Assessment Team

•County incentive program for health and

wellbeing

•Divisional Annual Retreats

•Social Worker Appreciation Month

•SW of the Month/Qtr

•Resilient Workforce

Collective Purpose &

Effectiveness

Physical Wellness & Safety

Mental/Emotional Wellness & Safety

Trusting Relationships

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Appreciative Inquiry: definition

Appreciative inquiry (AI) is “the cooperative search for the

best in people, their organizations, and the world around

them. It involves systematic discovery of what gives a

system ‘life’ when it is most effective and capable in

economic, ecological, and human terms. AI involves the

art and practice of asking questions that strengthen a

system’s capacity to heighten positive potential. It

mobilizes inquiry through crafting an ‘unconditional

positive question’ often involving hundreds or sometimes

thousands of people” (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999, p.

12).

Appreciative Inquiry

A conversation which brings Appreciation and Inquiry together

Builds capacity for positive change in

agencies

Recognize the good work they have done

Identify the details of how they did it

Stake a claim for the difference it made

Builds regenerative energy for what was

done well

Can build practice depth within the team or agency

Appreciative Inquiry – Use Your E.A.R.S. (De Jong & Berg, 2008)

Elicit - first question – allows the person to

choose a situation

Amplify - uncovering the detail: who, what,

when, where and how (not why).

Reflect - helps person process their

meaning of the behavior

Start Over - ask another question

E.A.R.S.

Elicit

Amplify

Reflect

Start Over

ElicitAppreciative inquiry (De Jong & Berg, 2008)

Tell me about a piece of work you've done within your

agency in the last 3 months that you feel proud of.

Tell me about some work you did within in your

supervision of staff that you feel proud of.

Amplify Appreciative inquiry (De Jong & Berg, 2008)

What did you do?

What was the first step to making that happen?

How did you do that?

What do you think you did to get to that result?

What did you do that convinced them that you care?

How did you do that, what was the first small step?

What were you thinking?

What do you think they were thinking?

Who did this impact? How did this impact them?

What about that was different?

What else? Tell me more about that.

What about that worked?

What's changed since then?

ReflectAppreciative inquiry (De Jong & Berg, 2008)

What has changed for you as a practitioner/leader?

What has changed for your staff/agency?

What has been most important for you?

What have you learned?

Was it a surprise to you?

What do you suppose [name] would say that you did that worked well?

How surprised are you to reflect back on your work and find that what you had done was enough?

What’s the lesson for you when you look at this piece of work?

What do you want to make sure you do the next time you are in that situation?

On a scale of 0 – 10, where 0 is this work really is nothing to be proud of and 10 is this work that you are describing is the best work in your professional career, where would you put your number on that scale?

Appreciative Inquiry practice

Groups of 3: Choose who is Compassion, Patience, Resilience

Interviewer:

❖ Starting Elicit question: “Tell me about something you have done in that past 3 months you feel proud of

that promotes resilience in your agency and the staff you support.

❖ Proceed with the E.A.R.S. model.

Observer:

❖ Do you think this process could be helpful for your agency?

❖ What parts did others share that you found to be helpful and could be implemented in

your agency?

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Giving & Receiving Feedback

➢ Practices of consent

➢ Rumbling with vulnerability (Brene Brown)

➢ Accept messiness

➢ Active listening

➢ Courageous tough conversations

➢ Choose to build strength and endurance to sit in the

discomfort

➢ The personal is the professional

By BC DHHS Resiliency Coordinators

Contact Us:

RESILIENCYCOORDINATORS@BUNCOMBECOUNTY.ORG

ANN.THOMASSON@BUNCOMBECOUNTY.ORG

ANNA.MEYER@BUNCOMBECOUNTY.ORG

KRISTIN.WILSON@BUNCOMBECOUNTY.ORG

References

Brown, Brene (2018) Dare to Lead: Brave work, Tough Conversations. Whole hearts. New York: Random House.

Cooperrider, D. L., & Whitney, D. (1999). Appreciative inquiry: Collaborating for change. Barrett-Koehler

Communications, Inc., 46.

Cooperrider, D.L, & Suresh, S. (1987). Appreciative inquiry in organizational life, Research in Organizational

Change and Development, 1, 129-169.

Chadwick Trauma-Informed Child Welfare Systems Dissemination and Implementation Project: Essential

Elements of a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System. https://ctisp.wordpress.com/essential-elements-of-a-

trauma-informed-child-welfare-system/

Hammond, S. A. (1998). The thin book of appreciative inquiry. Plano, TX: Thin Book Publishing Company.

Resources for ResilienceTM Training materials from Reconnect for ResilienceTM Curriculum.

https://resourcesforresilience.com/

References

references

Richards, J. (1990). Beyond training: Approaches to teacher education in language teaching. Language Teacher, 14,

3-8.

Turnell, A. (2009). Introduction to the Signs of Safety (DVD and Workbook). Perth, AU: Resolutions Consultancy.

Available at: www.signsofsafety.net

Turnell, A. (2007). Words and Pictures: Informing and Involving Children in Child Abuse Cases (DVD). Perth, AU:

Resolutions Consultancy. Available at: www.signsofsafety.net

Turnell, A. & Essex, S. (2006). Working with ‘Denied’ Child Abuse: The Resolutions Approach. Buckingham., UK: Open

University Press.

Turnell, A. (2004). Relationship-grounded, safety-organized child protection practice: dream-time or real-time option

for child welfare? Protecting Chidlren, 19 (2): 14-25.

Turnell, A & Edwards, S (1999). Signs of Safety: A Solution and Safety Oriented Approach to Child Protection

Casework. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company

References