Plenary | Workshops | Speakers
February 29 Conference Plenary^
Conference MC: Kathryn Gretsinger | Journalist, Radio Host and Producer
(Vancouver Convention Centre East, Main Floor)
See Map
Morning Program
| 8:00 | Registration and Breakfast Buffet |
| 8:45 | Coast Salish Traditional Opening Audrey Rivers | Elder, Squamish Nation Accompanied by: Sheryl Fisher | Communication Officer, Squamish Nation |
| 8:50 | Stress in the workplace Hon. Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid | Minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government |
| 9:00 | Working together for better mental health Judy Moore | Chair, CMHA BC Division Boar |
| 9:05 | 5 priority elements, and moving to standards, for “psychologically safe” and “psychologically healthy” workplaces Lloyd Craig | Chair and Bottom Line Conference Steering Committee |
| 9:10 | Personal experiences of psychologically healthy/unhealthy workplaces Panel of individuals from diverse backgrounds Panelist: Jessica Bruhn, Steven Ross, Debra Sutherland, Christie Duncan Moderator: Kathryn Gretsinger |
| 10:00 | Break |
| 10:20 | Delegate discussion Priority steps for building your psychologically healthy workplace Moderator: Kathryn Gretsinger |
| 10:45 | Promoting psychological health in organizations: a focus on workplace relations Ali Dastmalchian | PhD, Dean, Professor, Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria Claudia Steinke | PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Lethbridge |
Afternoon Program
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 12:45 | Improving Bottom Line Results and Employee Psychological Wellbeing Hon. Mary Collins, PC | Chair of Vancouver Board of Trade Task Force on Health, Wellness and Wellbeing |
| 1:15 | Break |
| 1:30 | Practical experiences in building psychologically healthy workplaces Panel of workplace leaders representing employers and labour. Panelists: Dr. Paul Farnan, Michelle Laurie, Deanne Matzanke, Sophie Pierre Facilitator: Kathryn Gretsinger |
| 2:30 | Resources to help you build your psychologically healthy workplace Dr. Joti Samra | Registered Psychologist, Past President, BC Psychological Association; Chair, Psychologically Healthy Workplace Collaborative Introduced by: Fred Smith | Regional Director, Group Benefits, Great-West Life |
| 3:00 | Break |
| 3:15 | Delegate discussion From what you have heard, what will you take to your workplace? |
| 3:30 | Moving forward on a national scale Peter Coleridge | CEO CMHA |
| 3:50 | Ride Don’t Hide | Michael Schratter |
| 4:00 | Closing remarks Jim Sinclair | President, BC Federation of Labour Lloyd Craig | Chair, Bottom Line Conference Steering Committee |
March 1 Conference Workshops^
(Vancouver Convention Centre East, 2nd Floor)
Registration in front of Room 18 at 8:15am
BUILDING PEER SUPPORT NETWORKS IN THE WORKPLACE
Morning workshop: 9am – noon
Breakfast at 8:30am
Facilitator: LCol Stéphane Grenier, MSc, CD, Mental Health Commission of Canada Peer Project Manager; Operational Stress Injury Special Advisor, National Defence
Peer support works because it is natural, organic and authentic at its heart, relying on the intrinsic value of two people interacting with one another as equals. Peer support can help navigate the intricacies of recovery which, to someone experiencing mental illness, can seem to be an overwhelmingly complicated maze. It can help people regain independence and mastery over their own mental health recovery processes, literally transforming lives and enabling people to participate fully in and contribute to their families, jobs and society. Click here to view a video clip of Stéphane speaking about the importance of peer support.
This workshop will:
- provide an understanding of the value of involvement of people living—and working—with mental health issues in dealing with mental health challenges within the workplace environment
- provide a forum for discussion of broad and workplace-specific desired outcomes of peer support
- engage participants in a discussion of the Standards of Practice and their implementation in diverse workplaces
- review the training curriculum and certification process for peer support workers and discuss their relevance and potential implementation in workplaces
- provide a general understanding of the evaluation research to be carried out through the MHCC
COMPLEX ISSUES CLEAR SOLUTIONS—MANAGING WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Full-Day workshop: 9am – 4:30pm (4 sessions)
Breakfast at 8:30am
Participants: Managers, Supervisors, Union Representatives, and HR specialists
Limited to 20 participants each session
Certified Trainers: Laura Allen, MSW, RSW, Maureen Grace, Ann Morgan, and Renée Ouimet, MSW (Materials and Q&A also available en français)
This award-winning workshop from Mental Health Works will enable participants to:
- more effectively discuss sensitive or contentious issues related to mental health concerns with employees
- recognize when a worker may be struggling with a mental health issue
- separate performance issues from mental health issues
- create accommodation strategies that work
- avoid discrimination and human rights violations
**Sold Out**
BUILDING A PSYCHOLOGICALLY HEALTHY WORKPLACE
Morning workshop: 9am – noon
Breakfast at 8:30am
Facilitator: Dr. Joti Samra, Clinical Psychologist
In this era of increasing workplace pressures (increased competitiveness, a faster pace and labour shortages), many organizations are responding by nurturing their most important asset—their workers. They are committed to addressing worker morale, job satisfaction and retention. In other words, they are creating psychologically healthy workplaces, where workers flourish rather than flounder and companies benefit from an engaged workforce and healthier bottom line. This workshop will provide you with some concrete, actionable steps you can take to start the process of building a psychologically healthy workplace. This session will also help you build a strong business case for addressing psychological health in the workplace when communicating with others in your organization.
Dr. Samra is the lead developer of Guarding Minds @ Work (GM@W): A Workplace Guide to Psychological Safety and Health, an innovative online resource used by employers to address psychosocial threats in the work environment.
**Sold Out**
MANAGING EMOTIONS: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Afternoon workshop: 1 – 4pm
Facilitator: Dr. Joti Samra, Clinical Psychologist
At this session you can confidentially learn about how you manage your own emotions and how you respond to the emotions of others. Take this learning back to your workplace and advocate for the implementation of free tools to assess and improve the emotional intelligence of your managers, union representatives and others who work with or support workers. All participants will be sent a link to confidentially assess their own interpersonal competence skills so that they will come with an awareness of their strengths and areas for improvement. No one will be asked to share their results, but it will add personal context and meaning to the session.
Dr. Samra is principal developer of Managing Emotions, a set of online, interactive assessment and training resources that strengthen the interpersonal competence and emotional intelligence skills of managers and leaders.
