BACKKlinic continues to provide capacity building opportunities for both service providers and community members in Manitoba with our Public Education program and the Manitoba Trauma Information and Education Centre (MTIEC).
Public Education
This year, the Public Education program delivered 95 workshops to 4,493 learners that focus on mental health and wellness, including suicide prevention, crisis counselling skills, and self-care and stress-management.
Suicide Prevention and Crisis Counselling Skills were our most requested workshops this year. Of the former, we delivered eight sessions engaging 150 learners. Six half-day and seven full-day sessions of Crisis Counselling Skills reached another 156 learners. The demand for support and education for suicide prevention is important in destigmatizing conversations about suicide in all settings.
Manitoba Trauma Information and Education Centre
At the MTIEC, we continue to focus on empowering our learners to incorporate trauma-informed care and vicarious trauma into their practice.
This year, we have seen an increase in requests by learners in criminal justice and traditional clinical settings—systems traditionally identified by trauma survivors as re-triggering. We delivered 77 MTIEC workshops to emergency response workers including paramedics, the fire department, as well as correctional staff and criminal and civil lawyers. To meet this increased demand, we are increasing group sizes as needed and customizing workshops to meet the needs of each learning groups.
MTIEC also chairs the Manitoba Trauma Network. The network provides opportunities to meet, collaborate, share knowledge on trauma informed practices, assist with referrals, and offer each other support. While we lost our momentum early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we are happy to report that we are back to holding regular meetings while new members continue to join.
Our impact
Many groups and organizations reach out to Klinic because they are overwhelmed with trying to support their community members in our fast-changing world. They seek out Klinic to help strengthen their awareness, skills, and abilities to support the people in their lives both personally and professionally.
We are proud to meet people in their communities and organizations and strive to reduce barriers to services and information. We often see the transformative nature of awareness building, when participants move from passively learning the information to integrating this knowledge into their work and lives.
Klinic’s long-standing relationships with many communities, including Indigenous groups and organizations, give us incredible opportunities to share our workshops across the province. This exchange of knowledge and ideas help to support community practise as well as inform our own knowledge and content. Relational learning has been key to creating lasting connections with various groups and communities across the province.
Challenges
Klinic’s public education programming continues to have high demand. Our workshops, especially in suicide and crisis counselling, are booked months in advance. To address this challenge, we continue to work together with other organizations to support the needs of community. Our goals moving forward are to maintain flexibility and incorporate diverse experiences and knowledge bases in the training we deliver.