Supporting the Emotional and Mental Health Needs of Harm Reduction Staff

Harm reduction staff, coworkers, volunteers and participants face emotional exhaustion and burnout daily as the overdose crisis continues to impact communities across the U.S. To address wellness and burnout prevention for harm reduction providers, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is hosting a three-part webinar series highlighting innovative strategies that have been implemented for establishing professional boundaries, managing grief and supporting staff wellness.

While there are a wealth of wellness and burnout prevention webinars in the field, the needs of the harm reduction community are unique due to the nature of their work and the trauma and grief they face daily.

Join us on Monday, July 17, 3-4:30 p.m. ET for the final webinar in this series, Supporting the Emotional and Mental Health Needs of Harm Reduction Staff. This webinar will present strategies that harm reduction organizations and supervisors can employ to encourage emotional wellness and support staff experiencing burnout.

We will hear from three experts in the field:

• Heather Lusk, MSW, LCSW, Executive Director of the Hawai’i Health & Harm Reduction Center
• Hector Mata, LMSW, Assistant Director, Relay, Peer and Clinical Services and Co-Founder of In the Works.
• Ami Roeschlein, DSW, MA, LMFT, Consultant at National Council for Mental Wellbeing

After this webinar, you will be able to:

1. Identify components of psychological safety, moral injury and how to create a culture of compassion.
2. Recognize potential causes of burnout and how to positively support staff through burnout.
3. Review systems level actions and boundaries that can contribute to staff wellness and prevent burnout.

This event was made possible by grant number 6 NU38OT000318-02-02 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $750,000 with 100% funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, CDC/HHS or the U.S. Government.