Workshops & Training
I provide professional development workshops and training for a wide range of organizations. This work is focused on teaching non-therapists how to develop skills that might be called therapeutic: empathy, self-awareness, trauma awareness, and the ability to interact positively with people who are struggling or in distress.
Some organizations prefer a foundational approach (typically 1-3 sessions), whereas others choose training that is more in-depth (which typically requires 4-12 sessions). Every organization is unique; training is customized for the specific needs and context of a given organization.
Below are descriptions of workshops and trainings that I have offered within the past year or so, with various organizations. To discuss a possible workshop or training for your organization, please get in touch.
Program Development for Addictions and Trauma
Evidence-based practices for service providers (1 session)
May 24, 2023, 2:34 p.m. • Ross Laird
The roots and paths of mental illness, addiction, and trauma are complex, interwoven, and surprising. Those seeking healing and recovery often find themselves exploring and coming to terms with und...
Understanding Addictions
For parent groups, schools, and organizations (1 session)
May 24, 2023, 2:40 p.m. • Ross Laird
Addiction is the most common and the most misunderstood challenge we face. Most of us find addictions somewhere close by: in our families, in our peers, sometimes in ourselves. Addictions are every...
Education and Mental Health
Cultivating well-being in the classroom and beyond (1 session)
May 24, 2023, 3:12 p.m. • Ross Laird
Many educational institutions are grappling with the troubling rise of mental health challenges within their communities. Issues such as depression and anxiety are becoming increasingly common not ...
Navigating Overwhelm and Burnout
Staying purposeful and healthy while helping others (1 session)
May 24, 2023, 3:16 p.m. • Ross Laird
During times of turbulence and stress, how can we stay emotionally healthy and connected to ourselves and those around us? What kinds of coping are normal and helpful? When does normal coping becom...
Group Facilitation
Complex and consequential skills for working with people (4 sessions)
May 24, 2023, 4:01 p.m. • Ross Laird
Working with groups is immensely rewarding and uniquely challenging, requiring of the facilitator a particular blend of professional skills and self-awareness that develops only through practice an...
Mental Health Skills for Educators
Therapeutic skills for non-therapists (6 sessions)
May 17, 2023, 3:12 p.m. • Ross Laird
The foundation of education is the development of people; their intellectual emergence, emotional maturation, and personal growth. The powerful experiences of formalized education provide meaning a...
Trauma-Aware Educational Practices
Creating safety and reducing harm (3 sessions)
June 4, 2023, 4:02 p.m. • Ross Laird
Increasingly, educational institutions have begun to grapple directly with complex issues — climate change, residential schools, refugees, systemic racism — in deeply purposeful ways. However, when...
Mental Health Skills for Museum Professionals
Therapeutic skills for non-therapists (6 sessions)
June 4, 2023, 4:09 p.m. • Ross Laird
Museums and art galleries play pivotal roles in navigating complex problems. The objects and narratives on display provide visitors with powerful experiences of meaning and context for themes such ...
Trauma-Aware Museum Practices
Creating safety and reducing harm (3 sessions)
May 17, 2023, 3:50 p.m. • Ross Laird
Increasingly, museums have begun to grapple directly with complex issues — climate change, residential schools, refugees, systemic racism — in deeply purposeful ways. However when they do so, they ...