July Training for Employees to Focus on Skills for Psychological Recovery

Michigan State University’s Office for Resource Support and Coordination (ORSC), in partnership with the Trauma Services and Training Network (TSTN), are inviting community members you to join them for a live training opportunity featuring the Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) on July 30-31. The training will be in-person and led by one of SPR’s developers, Melissa Brymer, Ph.D., Psy.D., of UCLA.

Who is this training for?

The in-depth, two-day training is intended to equip MSU employees that serve in a student-, staff-, faculty-, or community-facing role to learn effective ways to support the mental wellbeing of others, particularly those experiencing some trauma or distress. It is not formal mental health treatment and can be utilized by individuals in roles such as educators, academic advisors, higher education professionals, student or staff support roles, and more.

Organizers are seeking MSU community members, across a wide range of units, that are committed to being a resource when those they are interacting with on campus are struggling. By training a cohort of paraprofessionals on campus, ORSC and TSTN hope to build capacity and equip the community for when these resources are needed in the future. 

About Skills for Psychological Recovery

Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) is designed to help survivors learn new skills and effectively cope with stresses and adversities. SPR is based on an understanding that survivors will experience a broad range of reactions (physical, psychological, behavioral, spiritual) across time. While many survivors will recover on their own, some will experience distressing reactions that interfere with adaptive coping. Compassionate, caring, and informed community members may help these survivors recover by introducing them to the applicable SPR skills. 

What will be learned at this training?

After completing the two-day training, participants will learn and be more prepared to provide SPR to members of their community, including the following:

·      Help survivors identify their most pressing needs and concerns and gather additional information to guide their actions

·      Encourage survivors to take an active role in their recovery

·      Teach a set of skills that will help survivors to reduce distress and improve functioning

·      Support adaptive coping, acknowledge coping efforts and strengths, and empower survivors

·      Link survivors, when needed, to local recovery systems, mental health services, public-sector services, and other organizations

How to sign up

Individuals can use the following form to indicate their interest in attending.

Train the Trainer Opportunity

In addition to Skills for Psychological Recovery on July 30-31, Melissa Brymer will be holding a train the trainer program for a small cohort of MSU employees at a later date. This is an opportunity for a select group of Spartans to go one step further in providing the SPR model to the MSU community; the opportunity includes further learning of the SPR model and instruction on how to teach the model to others. Participants will attend a live, virtual train the trainer seminar with Brymer and attend monthly virtual meeting as a cohort over the course of one year. Those who complete SPR train the trainer will be asked to provide at least two trainings to the MSU community. Priority will be given to those with access audiences for SPR training and implementation and whose attendance will contribute to representing the wide range of units at MSU.