The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work
403 East Winding Hill Road Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
Phone (717) 795-9048 Fax (717) 795-8013 www.pacwrc.pitt.edu
700:
Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child Welfare Leader
Instructor Guide
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare
Resource Center
University of Pittsburgh,
School of Social Work
March 2018
Copyright 2018, The University of Pittsburgh
This material is copyrighted by The University of Pittsburgh. It may be used freely for
training and other educational purposes by public child welfare agencies and other not-
for-profit child welfare agencies that properly attribute all material use to The University
of Pittsburgh. No sale, use for training for fees, or any other commercial use of this
material in whole or in part is permitted without the express written permission of The
Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center of the School of Social Work at The
University of Pittsburgh. Please contact the Resource Center at (717) 795-9048 for
further information or permissions.
Project Lead
Maryann Marchi
Acknowledgements
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center would like to thank the following
people for their assistance in the creation of the workshop 700: Managing the Impact of
Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child Welfare Leader:
Brian Bornman Pennsylvania Children and Youth Administrators
Michael Byers The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Terry Clark York County Children and Youth Services
Jennifer Cragle Bradford County Children and Youth Services
Jeanne Edwards The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Christina Fatzinger The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Stacie Gill Monroe County Children and Youth Services
Adelaide Grace Monroe County Children and Youth Services
Lisa Kessler The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Launa Kowalcyk Department of Corrections
Crystal Natan Lancaster County Children and Youth Services
Brandie Neider Berks County Children and Youth Services
Natalie Perrin The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
Roseann Perry Office of Children, Youth, and Families
Dayna Revay Beaver County Children and Youth Services
Joan Wirick The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Agenda for 3-Hour Workshop on
700: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child
Welfare Leader
Estimated Time Content Page
20 minutes Section I:
Introduction
1
25 minutes
Section II:
Assessing Your Professional Quality of Life
4
1 hour, 45 minutes
Section III:
Strategies for Managing Stress and Trauma
7
20 minutes
Section IV:
Commitment and Next Steps
13
10 minutes Section V:
Conclusion and Evaluation
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Section I: Introduction
Estimated Length of Time: 20 minutes Corresponding Learning Objective:
Assess through self-reflection, the impact of stress, traumatic stress and personal strengths on one’s personal and professional life
Develop strategies to manage stress and traumatic stress and to promote resiliency
Materials Needed
PowerPoint Slide #1: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child Welfare Leader
PowerPoint Slide #2: Introductions
PowerPoint Slide #3: Learning Objectives
PowerPoint Slide #4: Agenda
Participant Guide (PG) (pages 1-5)
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Section I: Introduction
Instructor Materials Time Instructor Notes
Slide 1 Do:
As participants arrive, play relaxing music to set the tone for the session as one of relaxation and well-being.
Display Slide 1
Music CD of trainer’s choice
Step 1
Say: Welcome Do: Introduce self
4
Step 2
Say: Let’s do quick introductions. Do
Pre-select two volunteers to record on easels.
Instruct participants to introduce themselves by providing their name, county, and one thing you do to take care of themselves.
Instruct volunteer(s) to record self-care actions on the easels.
Flip chart Easels
10 As strategies are recorded, quietly consider if any of them might warrant an expanded discussion. Note these participants who offer these strategies to ask if they would be willing to share more in Section IV.
Step 3 Do: Review materials: Participant Guide (PG).
PG 1
Step 4 Slides 2 and 3
Do: Display Slide 2 Say: Here is the agenda for the workshop which can be found on page 2 of your PG. Do: Review agenda Do: Display Slide 3 Say: These are the learning objectives which can be found on page 2 of your PG. Ask: Are there any questions before we proceed?
PG, p.2 (Learning Objectives/ Agenda)
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Step 5
Do: Refer participants to pages 3-4 in the PG for the definitions of stress, traumatic stress, primary and secondary traumatic stress, and burnout.
Say:
Explain that this information is being provided as a reference.
While we won’t be studying what each of these words mean in this session, these are important concepts to understand if any participant happens to be unfamiliar with them.
PG, pp. 3-4 (Setting the Stage)
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Section II: Assessing Your Professional Quality of Life
Estimated Length of Time:
25 minutes
Corresponding Learning Objective:
Assess through self-reflection, the impact of stress, traumatic stress and personal strengths on one’s personal and professional life; Materials Needed
PowerPoint Slide #5: PROQOL Instructions
Participant Guide (PG) (pages 6-10)
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Section II: Assessing Your Professional Quality of Life
Instructor Materials Time Instructor Notes
Activity Title: Section II, Step 1
Type of Activity/ Purpose
PROQOL Assessment: Assess through self-
reflection, the impact of stress, traumatic
stress and personal strengths on one’s
personal and professional life;
Set-up and Alternatives
none
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 5
Do:
Refer participants to pages 7-9 in the PG.
Display Slide 5
Explain what the PROQO can be used by helping professionals at various times throughout careers to monitor how one is managing the stress and traumatic stress of a job. Explain that the PROQOL Scale is a simple test of 30 questions developed by Stamm in 1995, which has been revised numerous times, to assess quality of life in relation to burnout, compassion satisfaction, and compassion fatigue (secondary trauma) (Stamm, 2010). For each question asked on the first sheet of the scale, respondents are to answer with a response numbered from 1 through 5, with 1 equaling never, 2 equaling rarely, 3 equaling sometimes, 4 equaling often, and 5 equaling very often.
Ask participants to answer the 30 questions on page 7, instruct them to self-score their assessment on page 9, and fill then in the scores on page 8.
Say: No participant will be required to share their responses or its results.
PG, pp. 7-9 (PROQOL)
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Debrief
Ask: How do you feel your scores effect your role as an administrator? Do: Conclude this section by asking people to make a note if they find themselves having a high degree of burnout or a high degree of secondary traumatic stress. If their test scores indicate that any of these issues are a concern, they may want to consider developing their own self-care plan for dealing with stress and traumatic stress and/or by availing themselves of some of the work site or professional resources available to them. If participants scored high on compassion satisfaction, stress that self-care plans are still important to maintain the status quo. Explain that the rest of the day will focus on developing ways to manage stress and traumatic stress. Those suffering from burnout may also find benefit to implementing today’s activities. For many cases, the interventions are the same to manage all three conditions.
5 Do not individually go around the room to ask for participants’ responses. All sharing in the large group should be voluntary.
Additional Notes
700: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on
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Section III: Strategies for Managing Stress and Trauma
Estimated Length of Time:
1 hour, 45 minutes
Corresponding Learning Objective:
Develop strategies to manage stress and traumatic stress and to promote resiliency.
Materials Needed
Flip Chart Paper
Mobile Application: Calm
Biodots®
Poster #1: Turning Knowledge into the Power to Control Stress: Biodot™
Point Slide #6: Title We will practice the following strategies for managing stress and trauma
Point Slide #7: Mindfulness
Point Slide #8: Self-Reflection
Point Slide #9: Cognitive Reframing
Point Slide #10: Self-Reflection
PowerPoint Slide #11: Guided Imagery, Deep Breathing, and Biofeedback
Point Slide #12: Self-Reflection
Point Slide #13: Instructions for Self-Care Assessment
Point Slide #14: Impressions
Participant Guide (PG) (pages 11-21)
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Section III: Strategies for Managing Stress and Trauma
Instructor Materials Time Instructor Notes
Step 1 Slide 6
Do:
Introduce section.
Display Slide 6
Explain that participants will explore several evidence based stress reduction techniques which can be easily incorporated into a daily routine with disciplined practice.
2
Activity: Mindfulness Activity: Section III, Step 2
Type of Activity/ Purpose
This is an individual activity facilitated for a
large group. Its purpose is to develop
strategies to manage stress and traumatic
stress.
Set-up and Alternatives
These movements can be modified for groups with limited space or for individuals with mobility challenges. Participants may remain in chairs and perform breathing exercises with a focus on moving the upper body only.
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 7
Do:
Introduce the strategy of mindfulness. Caution participants to know their limitations.
Display Slide 7 and play Mindful Movements video by clicking link on the slide. It lasts about 16 minutes.
Role model the movements by completing the movements as instructed.
Ten Mindful Movements link
20
Debrief
Slide 8
Do:
Display Slide #8.
Instruct participants to complete self-reflection section in on page 12 of PG.
Ask: Does anyone wish to share their impressions of this exercise?
PG, p. 12 (Mindfulness Movements: Self- Reflection)
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Additional Notes
Activity: Cognitive Reframing Activity: Section III, Step 3
Type of Activity/ Purpose
This is an instructor-led large group activity.
Its purpose is to develop strategies to
manage stress and traumatic stress and to
promote resiliency.
Set-up and Alternatives
none
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 9
Do: Display Slide 9. Say: Due to the nature of child welfare work, it is easy to focus our attention on the things that go wrong as opposed to all of the things that go well. When we solely focus on shortcomings of our work, there is a natural tendency to feel uninspired and unenthusiastic. This results in feeling overwhelmed, pessimistic, and ultimately less resilient. Cognitive-behavioral techniques can help staff identify and amplify already exhibited strengths, reframe situations to appraise them more positively, normalize responses, manage avoidance behavior, control self-defeating statements, and encourage adaptive coping behaviors. (Jeong, S., Fenoff, R. and Martin, J.H., 2017). Do:
Refer participants to PG, page 13 and to review the steps to reframing.
To demonstrate the skill of reframing, ask the group to generate an example of a work-related stressor related to an employee(s). Have them name their usual response to that stressor.
Refer participants to PG, page 14. Give them a couple of minutes to read
PG, p. 13 (Cognitive Reframing) PG, p. 14 (Cognitive Reframing)
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through the ten unhelpful thinking styles.
Assist the group in identifying which unhealthy thinking styles are being used in the thoughts about the work related stressor (e.g. “their fault” versus “my fault,” all or nothing, one time versus all the time).
Assist the group in reframing the situation by eliminating the unhealthy thinking styles and using the reframing tips on the bottom of the handout.
Debrief
Slide 10
Do:
Display Slide 10
Instruct participants to complete the self-reflection questions on page 15 of the PG.
Facilitate a debrief by asking participants their impression of this cognitive technique for managing stress and trauma.
Refer to flip chart created in Section I and encourage them to add to their notes any new tips or tricks they want to practice when leaving today.
PG, p. 15 (Cognitive Reframing: Self-Reflection) Flip chart
10
Additional Notes
Activity: Guided Imagery/Deep Breathing/Biofeedback Activity: Section III, Step 4
Type of Activity/ Purpose
This is an individual activity facilitated for a
large group. Its purpose is to develop
strategies to manage stress and traumatic
stress and to promote resiliency.
Set-up and Alternatives
This activity can be modified by using a CWRC approved recording or app that uses guided imagery and deep breathing between 7-15 minutes in length. The Biodot® Skin Thermometers will demonstrate for participants how they can use tools to get immediate feedback on whether the stress reducing activities are effective.
Post the Biodot® poster on the wall.
Biodot® Skin Thermometer Poster #1 (Turning Knowledge into the Power to Control Stress: Biodot™)
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Distribute one Biodot® Skin Thermometer to each participant.
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 11
Say: We can also learn to have control over the negative physical impacts of stress. Do:
Display Slide 11.
Instruct participants to place the Biodot® on the back of their hand near the thumb joint.
Explain that Biodots were designed to immediately indicate if your body is reacting negatively to stress.
Say: The more the Biodot® indicates cooling, the more your body is reacting to a stressful event. Using principles of biofeedback, you can then work to reduce the stress practicing relaxation techniques, such as the guided imagery and deep breathing activity we will do now. Do:
Refer to Poster #1 and instruct participants to note their current stress levels according to the poster.
Dim the lights.
Play the Calm mobile application and engage in the activity with participants as instructed in the application.
When completed, sit quietly for a couple of seconds before turning back on the lights.
Poster #1 (Turning Knowledge into the Power to Control Stress: Biodot™) Mobile Application: Calm Cell phone Speakers.
15
Debrief
Slide 12
Ask:
Has the color of your Biodot® changed?
Do:
Display Slide 12
Refer participants to Poster #1 to determine if the activity helped them to manage their physical stress response.
Poster #1 (Turning Knowledge into the Power to Control Stress: Biodot™)
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Instruct participants to complete the self-reflection questions on page 16 of the PG.
PG, p. 16 (Guided Imagery, Deep Breathing, and Biofeedback:
Self-Reflection)
Additional Notes
Activity: Self-Care Assessment Activity: Section III, Step 5
Type of Activity/ Purpose
This individual and small group activity gives participants the opportunity to self-reflect on their current self-care behaviors and to select areas to which they are committed to improving.
Set-up and Alternatives
none
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 13
Do:
Explain the activity and its purpose.
Display instructions on Slide 13 and ask participants to complete PG. pages 17-19.
PG, pp. 17-19 (Self-Reflection on Self-Care Assessment Worksheet)
5
Debrief
Slide 14
Do:
Instruct participants to form triads
Display Slide 14 and refer participants to page 20 in the PG.
Instruct participants to share their impressions of their self- assessment by responding to the questions on the slide.
Encourage participants to take notes on page 20.
PG, p. 20 (Impressions of my personal self-care)
5
Additional Notes
700: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on
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Section IV: Commitments and Next Steps
Estimated Length of Time:
20 minutes
Corresponding Learning Objective:
Develop strategies to manage stress and traumatic stress and to promote resiliency
Materials Needed
Flip Chart Paper
PowerPoint Slide #15: Individual Self-Care Plan Instructions
PowerPoint Slide #16: For Purposes of Increasing Commitment…
Participant Guide (PG) (pages 22-24)
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Section IV: Commitments and Next Steps
Instructor Materials Time Instructor Notes
Step 1 Structured Questions and Best Practices Ask: Do you know people who manage their stress and trauma well? What do they do?
10 Delivery option if running short on time: Ask: What things are working for you? Do: Call on the participants who agreed to share how they practice with intentionality stress and trauma management.
Activity: Individual Self-Care Plan Activity: Section IV, Step 2
Type of Activity/ Purpose
This individual and small group activity gives participants the opportunity to develop their action plan, called an Individual Self-Care Plan.
Set-up and Alternatives
none
Facilitation Tasks
Slide 15
Do:
Explain the activity and its purpose.
Display instructions on PowerPoint Slide 15 and ask participants to complete PG. p. 23.
PG, p. 23 (Individual Self-Care Plan) Flip charts from Section I
5
Debrief
Slide 16
Do:
Display Slide 16.
Instruct participants to share one or more items from their Self-Care Plan with one another participant.
PG, p. 24 (Individual Self-Care Plan)
5 This debrief may be skipped if time is short.
Additional Notes
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Section V: Conclusion and Evaluation
Estimated Length of Time:
10 minutes Corresponding Learning Objective:
Assess through self-reflection, the impact of stress, traumatic stress and personal strengths on one’s personal and professional life
Develop strategies to manage stress and traumatic stress and to promote resiliency
Materials Needed
PowerPoint Slide #17: Questions
PowerPoint Slide #18: Learning Objectives
Participant Guide (PG) (pages 25)
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Section V: Conclusion and Evaluation
Instructor Materials Time Instructor Notes
Step 1 Slide 17
Do: Display Slide 17
Say: We are at the end of our workshop. What questions remain?
4
Step 2 Slide 18
Do: Display Slide 18
Ask: Did we meet our learning objectives?
1
Step 3 Do: Distribute the evaluations and ask participants to complete them.
Evaluations 5
References
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center 700: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child Welfare Leader
Instructor Guide, Page 17 of 18
Calm.com (2018). Calm – Meditate, Sleep, Relax [Mobile application software].
Retrieved from https://www.calm.com/
Carter E. Pre-packaged guided imagery for stress reduction: Initial results. Counselling,
Psychotherapy, and Health, 2006; 2 (2), 27-39.
Figley, C. (1998). Burnout in Families: The Systemic Costs of Caring, CRC Press. Boca
Raton, Florida.
Figley, C., Figley, K.R. Crisis Y2K (2002): The Green Cross Project.
Headington Institute. retrieved on 4/2/12 from.www.headington-institute.org.
Jeong, S., Fenoff, R. and Martin, J.H. (2017). Evaluating the Effectiveness of an
Evidence-Based Cognitive Restructuring Approach: 1-Year Results from Project
ASPECT. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy: Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 1-16.
Retrieved on January 17, 2018 from https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct_2016_09_16
Pearlman L. (2011) The Headington Institute. Pasadena, CA.
Psychology Tools. Retrieved 11/16/15 from http://psychology.tools/download-therapy-
worksheets.html
The American Institute of Stress. Retrieved 10/29/13 from www.stress.org/stress-
effects/
The Resilience Alliance. (2011). Promoting Resilience and Reducing Secondary
Trauma Among Child Welfare Staff. ACS-NYU Children’s Trauma Institute. New
York, New York.
References
The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center 700: Managing the Impact of Stress and Traumatic Stress on the Child Welfare Leader
Instructor Guide, Page 18 of 18
Saakvitne, Pearlman, and the staff of the Traumatic Stress Institute/Center for Adult and
Adolescent Psychotherapy (TSI/CAAP) (1996). Transforming the Pain: A
Workbook on Vicarious Traumatization. New York, NY. Norton.
Shulman, L. (2011). The skills of helping individuals, families, groups and communities
(6th ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota. Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Stamm, B. (2010). The ProQOL (Professional Quality of Life: Compassion Satisfaction
and Fatigue Version 5) Retrieved 5/2/13 from www.isu.edu/~bhstamm or
www.proqol.org.
Thich Nhat Hanh –Ten Mindful Movements. (2015). Retrieved on January 4, 2018 from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1H7i0m_cuE