Healthcare Professionals have an ethical responsibility to act with integrity, honesty and professionalism with their clients and with other healthcare team members. Medical programs regularly incorporate a
“MEPS” (mental/emotional/physical/spiritual) approach to care in training, notes and literature, but often, emotional health is not regularly managed for the provider or the recipients of healthcare in most settings. This means that 25% of the care that most medical professionals believe is critical to health is being avoided. This is why psychologists and psychiatrists are often seen as far from the “medical system” yet emotional health is recognized as very important. Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health Care Professionals, Mental Health workers and the entire health care team needs to respect the tending of emotions as a key feature for basic healthcare in all fields. This course brings a focused attention to communication styles, emotional intelligence, and the value of understanding and managing painful emotions in any personal or healthcare setting. From this understanding, the transformation of unhealthy emotions into joyful experiences can be achieved.
In this course, students will learn how to be sensitive to both their own emotions as well as the emotions of those around them for compassionate communication. Through such communication, bridges may be created between health care professionals and clients too in order to deliver the best possible healthcare.
Students will learn how to be aware of their own conscious (or most often unconscious) patterns of behaviour which often involves REACTING to others, rather than RESPONDING to them. Unconscious biases play a huge role in referrals, communication with other healthcare professionals, and even in the care provided to a client/patient seeing any other healthcare practitioner(s). When healthcare practitioners work to overcome their own biases and consciously-avoid patterned behaviours that stem from an ego-centred perspective, true compassion for clients and the healthcare team may be established. This results in best care for clients served. Recognizing one's own patterns improves both the experience and the outcome for the patient and the entire healthcare team.
This course allows any student (within healthcare or not) to learn, recognize, and mindfully apply the skills and tools that can improve mood, increase compassion, and positively effect health outcomes in both personal and professional settings.
