The Working Mind
Through stigma reduction and mental health awareness, The Working Mind (TWM) program seeks to change Canadians’ behaviours and attitudes toward people living with mental illness, helping to ensure people are treated fairly and as full citizens with opportunities to contribute to society like anyone else. Program participants have shown an increase in resiliency skills and mental health wellbeing, and a decrease in stigmatizing attitudes.
About The Working Mind
Stigma is a major barrier preventing people from seeking help for mental health problems or mental illness. The fear of stigma often delays diagnosis and treatment. If identified and treated early, mental health concerns can be temporary and reversible. Employees who understand normal reactions to stress and how to manage these reactions are more resilient. They have the ability to recover from stress, traumatic events, and adverse situations. It is possible to train people to recognize changes in their own mental health and become more resilient.
This course is available in a virtual format
The Working Mind (Virtual): Facilitator Certification Training
Why choose The Working Mind?
- Evidence-based, founded on best practices, research, and methodologies
- Part of the largest systematic effort in Canadian history focused on reducing stigma related to mental illness
- Solutions-focused, aimed at cultivating an environment where people feel comfortable seeking help, treatment, and support on their journey toward recovery.
The Working Mind (TWM) is part of the Opening Minds initiative, managed by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC).
Launched by MHCC in 2013, TWM was developed by clinicians and peers and based on scientific research and best-practices.
TWM has been adapted to fit the general workplace audience and was developed with help from the following project partners: University of Calgary, Mount Royal University, Husky Energy, Nova Scotia Community College, Government of Nova Scotia, Capital District Health (NS/Halifax).
About MHCC’s Opening Minds initiative
Opening Minds is the largest systematic effort in Canadian history focused on reducing stigma related to mental illness. Established by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) in 2009, it seeks to change Canadians’ behaviours and attitudes toward people living with mental illness to ensure they are treated fairly and as full citizens with opportunities to contribute to society like anyone else.
Tackling stigma on multiple fronts
Opening Minds is addressing stigma within four main target groups: health care providers, youth, the workforce, and the media. As such, the initiative has multiple goals, ranging from improving health care providers’ understanding of the needs of people with mental health problems to encouraging youth to talk openly and positively about mental illness.
Ultimately, the goal of Opening Minds is to cultivate an environment in which those living with mental illness feel comfortable seeking help, treatment, and support on their journey toward recovery.
Why stigma?
People living with mental health disorders often say that the stigma they encounter is worse than the illness itself.
A number of programs across Canada are working on reducing stigma. Opening Minds has been evaluating more than 70 of these projects to identify those most effective at reducing stigma so they can be replicated across Canada. Evidence gathered through these evaluations will reveal best practices that will contribute to the development of anti-stigma toolkits and other resources .
At the same time, Opening Minds’ evaluation process is forging ties throughout Canada’s mental health field, creating a valuable network for sharing best practices and programs designed to reduce stigma.
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Program Descriptions
The Working Mind
The Working Mind (TWM) is an evidence-based program designed to promote mental health and reduce the stigma around mental illness in the workplace.
By reducing stigma and discrimination, TWM helps organizations create a culture that fosters greater awareness and support for mental health among employees, managers, and employers.
The Working Mind First Responders
The Working Mind First Responders (TWMFR), formerly known as Road to Mental Readiness, is an education-based program designed to address and promote mental health and reduce the stigma of mental illness in a first-responder setting.
The Working Mind is designed to:
- Improve short-term performance and long-term mental health outcomes;
- Reduce barriers to care and encourage early access to care;
- Provide the tools and resources required to manage and support first responders who may be experiencing a mental illness; and
- Assist supervisors in maintaining their own mental health as well as promoting positive mental health in their employees.
The Working Mind Healthcare Sector
The Working Mind (TWM) Healthcare focuses on providing workers in the healthcare industry with the tools to promote mental health in the workplace while also reducing the stigma of mental illness.
The Working Mind is designed to:
- Understand mental health/illness;
- Recognize signs and indicators in themselves and others;
- Reduce stigma and negative attitudes towards people with mental health problems in a healthcare setting;
- Support colleagues with mental health issues;
- Maintain their own mental health and improve their resilience.
The Working Mind Legal Sector
TWM for the Legal Sector Virtual is an evidence-based training developed to initiate a shift in the way you think, act, and feel about mental health in the workplace. It is specifically designed for employees and managers in the legal sector. The virtual course offers an employee version and a manager version for supervisors and team leads.
The Working Mind Sports
The Working Mind (TWM) Sports is an evidence-based mental health training program designed to address and promote mental health amongst athletes and coaches. This is an adaptation of The Working Mind.
The Working Mind is designed to:
- Recognize and support your own mental health and well-being as well as the mental health and well-being of others around you
- Enable the full productivity of yourself and others
- Foster an environment that is respectful and inclusive of everyone including those with mental health problems
- Encourage people to seek help for mental health problems.
Recent Blog Posts
- Dec 08, 2022
From Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation The Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation is partnering with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) to bring The Working Mind…
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- Nov 17, 2022
Not having all the answers when supporting a friend experiencing a mental health difficulty is not necessarily a bad thing. Resist the urge to fix.
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- Oct 27, 2022
Recent events have highlighted the need for change in how we do business, manage operations, and provide psychological safe space for the workforce. What we perceived as “working” before, it would seem, is no longer working.
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Related Case Studies
- Feb 21, 2023
Many of our leaders who have taken the training are in a position where they can have conversations about mental well-being and are equipped with the tools to recognize when somebody may be struggling.
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- Jun 09, 2022
Toronto Education Workers Local 4400 (TEW) is made up of approximately 17,000 education workers working primarily within the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). TEW is also home to childcare workers from various childcare centres and caretakers from Viamonde French Board, representing over 400 job classifications and over 1,000 worksites
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- Apr 05, 2022
The OAFC introduced The Working Mind First Responders (TWMFR) program, which is designed to promote mental health and wellness while reducing the stigma around mental illness in first-responder settings. Individuals who take the training learn how to improve their short- and long-term mental health outcomes and reduce barriers to care.
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