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Friday, September 22, 2023, Truro, Nova Scotia

The Secrets of Psychological Body Armor ™ – Holistic Wellness for Emergency Services and Healthcare Professions 

Course Description

This course is designed to aid you in building a personal culture of resilience and holistic health.  Our unique approach is intended to help you learn to better manage the stress in your life in order to increase your potential for happiness, success, and even create a competitive advantage through the creation of what we call Psychological Body Armor ™.  There is no “quick fix” in this program.  It is not designed to be a “pop psych” feel-good course.  Rather, this course contains facts and specific suggestions for actions you can take to enhance your personal resilience, all based upon the latest and most credible science.

View a short video about the development of this course on the ICISF website here.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• • Describe the nature of Psychological Body Armor ™ (PBA)
  • Recognize resilient attitudes
  • Use physical exercise to strengthen PBA
  • Use nutrition to fuel PBA
  • Use rest to recharge and restore PBA
  • Use interpersonal support
  • Understand how spirituality relates to PBA
  • Develop a fully personalized PBA plan

Visit the contact page to start planning a course exclusively for your group or to register 5 or more people for this session.

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

Cost is $175 CAD including lunch.

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Designed to provide participants with the latest information on critical incident stress management techniques and post-trauma syndromes, the Advanced Group Crisis Intervention builds on the knowledge base which was obtained through the Group Crisis Intervention course and/or in publications. At the conclusion of this course (14 contact hours), participants will have been exposed to specific, proven strategies to intervene with those suffering the ill effects of their exposure to trauma. Emphasis will be on advanced defusings and debriefings in complex situations.

This course is designed for EAP, human resources and public safety personnel, mental health professionals, chaplains, emergency medical services providers, firefighters, physicians, police officers, nurses, dispatchers, airline personnel and disaster workers who are already trained in the critical incident stress debriefing format. It will also be useful for those working extensively with traumatized victims for various walks of life.  This course requires previous training and experience.

*Prerequisite: Group Crisis Intervention

Course Highlights:

• Relevant research findings
• Managing complex group oriented crisis interventions
• Nature and importance of incident assessment
• Strategic intervention planning
• Comprehensive, integrated, systematic and multi-component CISM
• Concepts of enhanced group processes
• Significantly delayed interventions
• “Multiple incident CISD”
• Suicide of a colleague
• Small group crisis support sessions after a disaster

Register for this session or Contact us to arrange this training for your group.

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

3-Day (27 contact hours) Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention (The GRIN) $550 per person + applicable taxes.

Register HERE

Course Description:
This 3-day course combines ALL of the content of ICISF’s Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention courses.  Two certificates are awarded following 27 contact hours with the instructor.  Full attendance is required to earn both certificates.  Partial completion of the training does not earn a single certificate.  Some advance or evening work may be required.

Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, this course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services for both the individual and for groups. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically; Crisis Management Briefing, RITS, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

• Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
• Critical incident stress management
• Evidence-based practice
• Basic crisis communication techniques
• Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
• Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
• SAFER-Revised model
• Suicide intervention
• Relevant research findings
• Informational group crisis interventions
• Interactive group crisis interventions
• Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
• Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

If your Peer Support or CISM Team has been trained and needs some refresher activities or exercises, this may be the training you are looking for.

The day will include a review of the ICISF Model of Critical Incident Stress Management with emphasis on Assisting Individuals in Crisis as well as a review of the Group Crisis Interventions.

See more details and registration here.

The Secrets of Psychological Body Armor ™ – Lessons from Neuroscience that can save your career, your marriage, & your life.

Register here.

Course Description

This course is designed to aid you in building a personal culture of resilience and holistic health.  Our unique approach is intended to help you learn to better manage the stress in your life in order to increase your potential for happiness, success, and even create a competitive advantage through the creation of what we call Psychological Body Armor ™.  There is no “quick fix” in this program.  It is not designed to be a “pop psych” feel-good course.  Rather, this course contains facts and specific suggestions for actions you can take to enhance your personal resilience, all based upon the latest and most credible science.

View a short video about the development of this course on the ICISF website here.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• • Describe the nature of Psychological Body Armor ™ (PBA)
  • Recognize resilient attitudes
  • Use physical exercise to strengthen PBA
  • Use nutrition to fuel PBA
  • Use rest to recharge and restore PBA
  • Use interpersonal support
  • Understand how spirituality relates to PBA
  • Develop a fully personalized PBA plan

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

Click here to register.

2-Day (13 contact hours) Assisting Individuals in Crisis  

CounterstressSolutions is proud to partner with University College of The North to offer this training within the community.

8:30am to 4:30pm

We recommend this as your first course in CISM.   Over 13 hours of class time you will learn basic skills to help people who have had a traumatic experience.  We will discuss not only what techniques can be used to help that person, but also some of the reasons why those techniques actually work. 

The SAFER-Revised model of crisis intervention can be used in professional as well as personal settings.  After you take this training, you will understand that you have been providing crisis intervention for much of your life.  Now with a new appreciation for the skills you already have, and an easy model to follow, you will be better equipped to help your peers and others deal with the unpleasant experiences that life has sent their way.

Program Highlights:

• Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
• Critical incident stress management
• Evidence-based practice
• Basic crisis communication techniques
• Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
• SAFER-Revised model of crisis intervention
• Suicide intervention
• Risks of iatrogenic “harm”

This training may be eligible for CE credit. Check with your own professional association to confirm.

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

To register: Phone/Text Bonnie: 204-307-0210; or toll-free 1.866.677-6450 (Ext 0697) or Email: blederhaus@ucn.ca

CounterstressSolutions is proud to partner with University College of The North to offer this training within the community.

The Secrets of Psychological Body Armor ™ – Holistic Wellness for Emergency Services and Healthcare Professions 

Course Description

This course is designed to aid you in building a personal culture of resilience and holistic health.  Our unique approach is intended to help you learn to better manage the stress in your life in order to increase your potential for happiness, success, and even create a competitive advantage through the creation of what we call Psychological Body Armor ™.  There is no “quick fix” in this program.  It is not designed to be a “pop psych” feel-good course.  Rather, this course contains facts and specific suggestions for actions you can take to enhance your personal resilience, all based upon the latest and most credible science.

View a short video about the development of this course on the ICISF website here.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• • Describe the nature of Psychological Body Armor ™ (PBA)
  • Recognize resilient attitudes
  • Use physical exercise to strengthen PBA
  • Use nutrition to fuel PBA
  • Use rest to recharge and restore PBA
  • Use interpersonal support
  • Understand how spirituality relates to PBA
  • Develop a fully personalized PBA plan

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

To register: Phone/Text Bonnie: 204-307-0210; or toll-free 1.866.677-6450 (Ext 0697) or Email: blederhaus@ucn.ca

CounterstressSolutions is proud to partner with University College of The North to offer this training within the community.

This course is recommended as the second course in the ICISF model of Critical Incident Stress Management.

Over the course of 14 hours together either online or in-person, we will help you understand how an unpleasant event may affect a group of people, and how you can help them.  This course builds on the Assisting Individuals in Crisis training and expands the application of the ICISF Model of Crisis Intervention.

Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, the Group Crisis Intervention course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically demobilizations, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

Relevant research findings
Relevant recommendations for practice
Incident assessment
Strategic intervention planning
“Resistance, resilience, recovery” continuum
Interactive group crisis interventions
Informational group crisis interventions
Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
Reducing risks
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)Completion of “Group Crisis Intervention” and receipt of a certificate indicating full attendance (14 Contact Hours) qualifies as a class in ICISF’s Certificate of Specialized Training Program.

 This training may be eligible for CE credit. Check with your own professional association to confirm.

The training will be facilitated by: Steve Horner

To register: Phone/Text Bonnie: 204-307-0210; or toll-free 1.866.677-6450 (Ext 0697) or Email: blederhaus@ucn.ca

3-Day (27 contact hours) Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention (The GRIN) 

Register HERE

Course Description:
This 3-day course combines ALL of the content of ICISF’s Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention courses.  Two certificates are awarded following 27 contact hours with the instructor.  Full attendance is required to earn both certificates.  Partial completion of the training does not earn a single certificate.  Some advance or evening work may be required.

Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, this course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services for both the individual and for groups. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically; Crisis Management Briefing, RITS, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

• Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
• Critical incident stress management
• Evidence-based practice
• Basic crisis communication techniques
• Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
• Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
• SAFER-Revised model
• Suicide intervention
• Relevant research findings
• Informational group crisis interventions
• Interactive group crisis interventions
• Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
• Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

2-Day (13 contact hours) Assisting Individuals in Crisis 

Early registration, $325 CAD+ applicable taxes prior to November 1, 2023.

Late registration, $350 CAD + applicable taxes after November 1, 2023.

Register Here.

We recommend this as your first course in CISM.   Over 13 hours of class time you will learn basic skills to help people who have had a traumatic experience.  We will discuss not only what techniques can be used to help that person, but also some of the reasons why those techniques actually work. 

The SAFER-Revised model of crisis intervention can be used in professional as well as personal settings.  After you take this training, you will understand that you have been providing crisis intervention for much of your life.  Now with a new appreciation for the skills you already have, and an easy model to follow, you will be better equipped to help your peers and others deal with the unpleasant experiences that life has sent their way.

Program Highlights:

• Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
• Critical incident stress management
• Evidence-based practice
• Basic crisis communication techniques
• Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
• SAFER-Revised model
• Suicide intervention
• Risks of iatrogenic “harm”

 This training may be eligible for CE credit. Check with your own professional association to confirm.

Group and student rates are available.   Once minimum registration has been reached, invoices and joining instructions will be sent to registrants.

Click here to register. 

3-Day (27 contact hours) Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention (The GRIN) $550 per person + applicable taxes if registered before November 10, 2023.

Register HERE

Course Description:
This 3-day course combines ALL of the content of ICISF’s Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention courses.  Two certificates are awarded following 27 contact hours with the instructor.  Full attendance is required to earn both certificates.  Partial completion of the training does not earn a single certificate.  Some advance or evening work may be required.

Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, this course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services for both the individual and for groups. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically; Crisis Management Briefing, RITS, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

• Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
• Critical incident stress management
• Evidence-based practice
• Basic crisis communication techniques
• Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
• Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
• SAFER-Revised model
• Suicide intervention
• Relevant research findings
• Informational group crisis interventions
• Interactive group crisis interventions
• Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
• Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

2-Day (14 contact hours) Group Crisis  Intervention

Early registration: $325 CAD+ applicable taxes. ($200 when taken in combination with Assisting Individuals in Crisis)

This course is recommended as the second course in the ICISF model of Critical Incident Stress Management.

Over the course of 14 hours together either online or in-person, we will help you understand how an unpleasant event may affect a group of people, and how you can help them.  This course builds on the Assisting Individuals in Crisis training and expands the application of the ICISF Model of Crisis Intervention.

Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, the Group Crisis Intervention course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically demobilizations, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

Relevant research findings
Relevant recommendations for practice
Incident assessment
Strategic intervention planning
“Resistance, resilience, recovery” continuum
Interactive group crisis interventions
Informational group crisis interventions
Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
Reducing risks
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)Completion of “Group Crisis Intervention” and receipt of a certificate indicating full attendance (14 Contact Hours) qualifies as a class in ICISF’s Certificate of Specialized Training Program.

Group (5+) rates are available.   

Once minimum registration has been reached, invoices and joining instructions will be sent to registrants.

This two day course builds upon the content of the prerequisite course Assisting Individuals in Crisis.  Using the SAFER-R framework as a platform, participants are introduced to scenario based variations of the model.  Topics such as advanced psychological triage, grief,  suicide intervention, challenges in follow up and referral, and self-care are addressed.  In addition, participants are asked to evaluate pre-recorded video examples of crisis intervention using the SAFER-R model.

*Prerequisite: Assisting Individuals in Crisis (formerly Individual Crisis Intervention and Peer Support)

Course Highlights:

• Natures & definitions of a psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
• Nature and definition of critical incident stress management and its role as a continuum of care
• Empathic communication techniques
• Practice of psychological triage
• SAFER-Revised model of individual psychological crisis intervention in s suicide scenario
• SAFER-Revised model of individual psychological crisis intervention in a “follow-up” or referral scenario
• Risks of iatrogenic “harm” associated with psychological crisis intervention and will further discuss how to reduce those risks
• Principles of self-care

Contact us if you are interested in this course.

This course is not available via remote training.  In Person training will become available as COVID-19 protocols permit. 

Please use the Contact Form or check the Living Works website for availability.