Team Building as a Means of Self Care

Erica L. Medlock and Jennifer Metheny

University of Oregon Crisis Center

Eugene, OR

541-346-4487

emedlock@uoregon.edu

Do you have trouble with staff morale? Does you agency seem to have a high turn over rate? Do you have fun together as a staff? This presentation will address all of these issues, and will discuss ways in which team building activities can serve as a means of self care for your crisis counselors. We will first begin by telling you a little bit about the operations and staff members of the University of Oregon Crisis Center. We experienced a great deal of transition and turn over earlier this year, and as a result staff morale was at an all time low, and burnout at an all time high. We utilized a team building approach to help bring the staff together, and help increase rapport and trust amongst the counselors.

The main focus of the presentation will be taking a look at burnout rates among crisis workers, and also looking at some of the major means of self care (or lack thereof). You will have an opportunity to share the struggles you are having personally or as a staff. We will discuss different team building methods such as utilizing team/staff retreats to do more than just train, using weekly staff and supervision meetings as a place to team build, and having fun together as a staff as a way to build rapport and increase staff morale. We will demonstrate different games and activities, as well as allow you to practice these games and activities in the workshop. This is a hands on experience, and will be interactive in nature. We want to learn more about you, and your staff and will tailor some of the discussion around specific issues workshop members are experiencing. We look forward to seeing you!

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