[On-screen text: Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation]
0:00 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: ... so with that said, enough of me. Let's get into the showcasing and the stories. Please, along the way, use the chat to share any appreciation, a-ha moments, as the showcases are sharing. If you have questions that are coming up, we're trying to allow time at the end of each of these presentations to come back and address any of that. So, keep the chat going along the way if you wish. But Kelly if your voice is feeling okay... I should preface, Kelly's not been hugely well and is a bit croaky in the voice but is here with us anyway. And we're so grateful for that, Kelly. Thank you so much.
So, Kelly, I'll get you to unmute yourself. And maybe just before we dive into your showcase itself, can you just help remind everyone a little of the context of Winda-Mara, what you were trying to address in terms of helping your team care for their wellbeing. And then, we'll dive into the tool. And I'll share it on my screen when you give me the word.
0:54 Kelly: Yep, thanks for that. And thank you to Catherine and Michelle for the great introduction. And to Kirsten, for all the support that she's had. Because I'll tell you what, she’s been debriefing on a few occasions. Excuse me for my coughing. I'd just like to say that, and just pay my respect to my elders past, present and emerging. I'm sitting on Gunditjmara country, which is Southwest Victoria. And I work in an Aboriginal corporation. So, when we started this project, we were a standalone unit within Winda-Mara.
It's a multi-service organisation. And we did our survey with our co-colleagues of integrated Family Services and Kinship Services, but we haven't been able to complete that last one, simply because there’s been a whole heap of changes. So, I'm working in an area where it's a small-based place population with very strong kinship ties and networks, which is both good and bad when you're a frontline family violence service. And what I'm learning now, as a result, we had a complete change of leadership in the executive level, so there's been a whole change in terms of how the organisation works, how we're going to go forward and having to co-locate other services into our building, and the impact that's had on the team and how we see... And this has only happened in the last couple of weeks. How we see the flow of the clients and the workers through the building, all that sort of thing. So, it's brought up a few issues for us, which has impacted on the team, but reflects on how strong we are as a team as well. So, we don't necessarily have people who have qualifications in the area. We can take people who have lived experience or have strong cultural knowledge, that have good skill sets that we can train up. And we've got two of those in our network. But at the same time, they're now starting to commence their tertiary studies in the area, and that's been helpful to give them the knowledge base to work from, on top of the great skillset that they have. So, there's been a whole different layer to occupational health and safety for them, as what there would be to someone who's qualified and has an insight into the work that they're doing. And I have to say that right from the outset, I'm very, very proud of my team. So, I'm a big proud mama.
3:32 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Rightly so, Kelly. Rightly so.
3:35 Kelly: Yeah. And the other thing I learned too was, being a team leader means that you're the buffer between them and the rest of the organisation. The organisational tool was a great thing to create discussion and to create awareness of where we found the gaps. And we're currently in the process at Winda-Mara of redeveloping all our policies, updating them, and all that sort of thing.
So much to my disgust, I've put myself on the policy subcommittee, so that I can have an input into that for the benefit of our team moving forward.
4:07 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Very brave, and necessary, I think. Right? You can shape a lot from that level as well, even though it's sometimes painful to do the work.
4:15 Kelly: And the other thing that we discovered, which is, this has been a really good learning curve. Because the other thing we discovered too was that when you're in a multi-aid service agency, often the understanding and the knowledge of what frontline family violence is and what it takes to operate in a community stops with us. So, trying to educate the rest of the organisation around that can be a long discussion and a frequent discussion. And it's about how then as a team leader, I can care for myself, which obviously, at the moment, I’m not doing that very well. But how we can care for ourselves, so that we’re not putting that back on our teams.
5:07 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Yeah, yeah. And I think we all have the ups and downs in that care. Again, I think Kelly modelling the human nature of what it is to care for health, safety and wellbeing and doing, the best we can with that. So are you happy if I share the tool on screen that your team co-created.
5:23 Kelly: Yeah, that's fine.
5:23 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: ... and you can walk us through it? Is that okay?
5:25 Kelly: Yep.
5:26 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Okay. So, Kelly, give me a thumbs if you can see that on the screen. Awesome. Over to you, mate.
[On-screen text: My Wellbeing Check-List
1 Create Health Boundaries – transitions between clients, between work and home, and mentally, create space that promotes healthy boundaries.
2 Rest & Recovery Points – Activities that activate your parasympathetic nervous system, or offer distraction, contribute to resilience.
3 Self-Compassion – Self-compassion promotes well-being and overall mental health and may reduce fatigue and “burn-out” in caring professions. Create a regular practice to reduce your risk.
4 Immediate Safety Actions – Activities that support then triggered.
5 Act, Assess, Adjust – Weekly Reflection: Weekly Reflection: What went well this week? Where did I struggle? What am I learning about caring for my wellbeing? Regular supervision.]
5:32 Kelly: Yeah. So, this is where my technology doesn't extend to, that's why the people are sharing it for me. So, this was what Kirsten and the team, and I came up with in terms of a wellbeing checklist, and it was based on that rocket recovery tool that I talked about in the first seminar. But what it's basically about is kind of like a wellness plan for workers. And I suppose that's part of my experience in working in psych rehab, and Kirsten's experience as a psychologist coming together and trying to create something that is usable for the workers, and something that they can relate to. So, the rocket recovery, just as a refresher, there was three components to it. When we're feeling overwhelmed, we need to distract the mind from all the circular thoughts that we have, or the nagging worries that we have that we don't want to take home with us. It's about how we soothe the nervous system, and how we do something active to tyre the body out, so it feels rest and relaxation. So, it was on three different levels. And this kind of goes through that, as well as that self-compassion. So, at the end of the day, acknowledging that we've done our best. And we've had a really hectic couple of weeks, where we've had some really high-risk clients. And we're only a small team. I've got two case managers under me. I have a small caseload as well as being team leader, but my people are my main focus.
And we have a community development worker, so we’re working on a number of different levels. But those two workers have had some really intense clients and some really difficult issues, and we've found that we've had to start moving into, with our community development worker, doing some proactive stuff to lobby government to create some sort of change in the region. So that's all happening in the last few weeks as a result of stuff that's happening. But what we found was we kind of hit rock bottom this week, and it was about sitting down yesterday and just looking at each other and acknowledging that and saying that we're doing the best that we can, and that we can't help everyone. That sometimes, people are in charge of their own life. And we can only deal with what we have access to, and what they're prepared to do, and their stages of readiness. And that was a really important thing to do at the end of yesterday, because everyone was feeling overwhelmed. And just highlighting what their strengths were for that week and what they'd done. So this is kind of come from that. And so, on the first page, it goes through the create healthy boundaries. It's learning to have those strong boundaries about, when I finish work at the end of the day, we’re not an emergency service, the phone gets turned off. And it doesn't get turned on until the next day, that sort of stuff. And for me, it was like, if I’m having a bad day ... and I live next to the forest, so it's really good for me. I'll drive through the forest, rather than around it on the main roads, and maybe sit at Fire Dam and just relax for a bit before I actually go home, so I can decompress and not bring that back to the family. So it's about those boundaries between what is work and what is home, and trying to do some strategies when you're home that creates you a safe space there as well. So the rest and recovery points are what we talked about, where we distract and we come and we. The self-compassion, we've talked about that, to actually recognise what we're feeling and say, "That's okay, that’s just where I'm at this moment. But I've done a really good job. And I'm not in charge of all that is happening to me, or around me,” I should say. The only thing that we are in control of is us and how we respond.
Immediate safety actions, so when we're feeling triggered. We had an issue where one of the workers came up against ... Fortunately, he didn't recognise her. But one of the people who used violence, of one of her clients. And it wasn't a day when she was expecting him to be at court. So luckily for her, the support worker for recognised that she had changed in her demeanour, and just took her aside to one of the small rooms and had a bit of a chat to her. And we did some more of the strategies when she got back. So that was that immediate safety action thing, and what she needed for her for that.
Act, assess and adjust, weekly reflection, so going through at the end of the week ... We don't always do this. It's been a really busy month. And I said to Kirsten last night, I could tell that the team had missed their supervision, because we'd had extra time when we had to do in-services for the organisation, strategic planning, all that sort of stuff. And it meant that people had to take time off on days that ended up being on their supervision day, and we hadn’t rescheduled because we were all pretty busy. And that's a note to me, that I must reschedule in every month to make sure that supervision happens. Because that weekly adjustment, we kind of overlooked this month, and that's what showed up yesterday, was that we really need to get together.
[On-screen text: Create Healthy Boundaries
- Transitions between clients.
- Transitions between work and home.
- Your white space.
My rituals between clients include....
The best way for me to transition between work and home is to....
The time that I allow myself to let go of my challenges and let me mentally 'put down' what I am carrying can take place throughout my day with micro-moments and include activities that help enable me to do this such as......
Boundaries protect the things that are of value to you. They keep you in alignment with what you have decided you want in life. Adelyn Birch]
10:55 Kelly: We get together as a team every Monday morning and do the caseload, but we really need to do it at the end of the week, is just to check in with where everyone's at before we finish our week. Yeah. And the transitions between clients, the transition between work and home, that’s what we've already talked about. And they all got to do their own ... what suited them, because it's not going to be the same for everyone
[On-screen text: Rest & Recovery Points
"Tiny is mighty" when it comes to ensuring you are getting enough rest and recovery. Aim for 100 points each week and add in a few of your own activities below that enable you to both activate your parasympathetic nervous system AND psychologically detach.
Parasympathetic:
Yoga 40
Pilates / Tai Chi 30
Meditation 30
Float Tank 30
Bath 30
Sauna / Steam 20
Diaphragmatic Breathing 20
Listen to music 15
Psychological detachment:
Walk in nature 25
Moving Meditation 25
Playing with Pet 25
Park with kids 25
Fishing 25
Gardening 25
Painting/Writing 25
Play 25
Cooking 20
Reading book/magazine 20]
11:32 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: And so Kelly, this is where I can see sort of behind that checklist in your beautiful tool, you've got a page for each of those actions for people to take. Is that right? To help guide them. That's amazing.
[On-screen text: Self-Compassion
We all have a negative inner critic, and we can 't solve every problem that presents itself. We do the best that we can with the tools that we have.
I did my best this week and that was enough.
I am letting go of this weeks’ challenges.
I deserve to rest and recharge this weekend.
The best way for me to apply self-compassion is to...
Self-compassion is an opportunity for me to recognise that the strengths I bring to the table for my clients include...
[On-screen text: Immediate Safety Actions
During work there are going to be times, situations and circumstances that trigger me. Identifying these is the first step.
These situations, circumstances and behaviours are known triggers:
Activities that support me when triggered include......
When I am feeling unsafe, actions I can take include......]
[On-screen text: Act, Assess, Adjust
Weekly reflections can help us recognise our strengths, identify areas of struggle and help us learn and grow.
Things that went well this week include..........
This week I struggled when........
This week I realised that...........
Learnings about myself and others this week include.........]
11:32 Kelly: Yeah. And each of them individually, so it might be knitting and gardening for someone else, it might be golf for someone else, and getting out with family.
11:40 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Yeah. It's amazing.
11:41 Kelly: So it's different for everyone.
[On-screen text: My Wellbeing Check-List
1 Create Health Boundaries – transitions between clients, between work and home, and mentally, create space that promotes healthy boundaries.
2 Rest & Recovery Points – Activities that activate your parasympathetic nervous system, or offer distraction, contribute to resilience.
3 Self-Compassion – Self-compassion promotes well-being and overall mental health and may reduce fatigue and “burn-out” in caring professions. Create a regular practice to reduce your risk.
4 Immediate Safety Actions – Activities that support then triggered.
5 Act, Assess, Adjust – Weekly Reflection: Weekly Reflection: What went well this week? Where did I struggle? What am I learning about caring for my wellbeing? Regular supervision.]
11:43 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: Yeah, it's so beautiful. And I love, Kelly, its simplicity, but also its holistic sense. Right? Right through that checklist, from boundaries, to what am I doing for my own rest and recovery, to the self-compassion, safety actions, that learning process of acting, assessing and adjusting. Again, I think this is such an amazing tool, and I'm imagining many leaders and team members watching this right now going, "When can I get my hands on that?" And it will come. We're going to put them all up as part of the health safety and wellbeing guide. But I'm just mindful, we've got a few more beautiful showcase presentations to get through. And of your wonderful voice, which did so well to guide us through all of that. Can I ask people in the chat, if you’ve got any burning questions or you want to share some appreciation for Kelly and the beautiful tool that the Winda-Mara team have created and are gifting forward for us all, to pop that into the chat now? And Kelly, I think your observation there at the end of going, when we are using this consistently and there's supervision to help support and build that accountability, and give people space to debrief that act, assess, adjust part, this works really well. And when that supervision and accountability isn’t there, either because we're sick as a leader or things are so busy at work, it's hard to make the moment for it, just how quickly it can drift away. It's that important reminder to us that it's never one and done when it comes to health, safety and wellbeing. It does need that consistency of practise. Am I hearing that right, in terms of your last observation you were sharing?
13:25 Kelly: Absolutely. And the other one is, I want to keep Kirsten.
13:27 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: You want to keep Kirsten. So, for those joining us from the department, can they please keep their wellbeing coach. We love that, Kelly. Thank you so much for sharing and for being there, even when you're not feeling 100%. I can see there's lots of love in the chat there for you, and lots of appreciation and people saying they can't wait to use it as well. So, thank you so much, and thank the team, please, for us as well. It's just been amazing to be travelling this path with all of you. And again, I think this is such a valuable tool that many across the sector will get benefit of for a long time to come. So, thank you so much.
14:08 Kelly: And I think it's going to be shared, isn't it, with everyone?
14:10 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: It is, yeah. We're going to share all the tools out with the guide in the coming weeks, so we'll make sure everybody who's signed up for the workshop gets everything sent out to them afterwards as well. So, thank you for that.
14:22 Kelly: Yes, the copy of the supervision contract that we put up last time.
14:26 Dr. Michelle McQuaid: That would be amazing, if you're happy to share your supervision contract as well. I know after the last seminar, there were lots of requests from people about whether they might be able to see that. So, a two for one, we always love that. So, thank you so much, Kelly.
[End of transcript]
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