Boy, were we wrong! Kelly and I thought EAPs were 5-sessions-and-done propositions, but there is a lot more to support school employees' mental health at the Employee Assistance Network. They have a leadership academy, groups, and can fast-track people into counseling that matches their needs. Why didn't we know this?

Links

Employee Assistance Network

The mindfulness course Kelly is taking

PE teachers make it seem easy, but a more careful look at the work they do can clue us into the skills they employ to reach kids, create relationships, and sometimes become some of the most effective school leaders. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Natalie Boone, who started her career in Haywood county schools and now shares her work on movement, trauma, and the learning brain with WNC teachers and Mars Hill University teacher candidates. Bringing Learning to Life Through Movement - NCCAT

Empathy is highly valued in our profession, but it puts us at risk for compassion fatigue. Also known as "the cost of caring," compassion fatigue negatively affects our work satisfaction, our relationships, our sleep, our mental and physical health, and it can lead to burnout. Martha Teater co-authored Overcoming Compassion Fatigue: A Practical Resilience Workbook and she talks here about what might be put in place to insulate teachers from conditions that can take us away from the work we love.

Here's a link to the book

And a link to my notes on her excellent presentation