Work/Life Spring 2022 Newsletter |
|
New Year Greetings.
While for some, the holidays brought a restful and necessary break from busy schedules, for others, caregiving demands may have been elevated by the lack of structure and regular activities. With a new variant adding uncertainty to our lives, we take a moment to breathe and offer recognition of all that you are holding during these times.
The Work/Life Program is here to support you as you navigate work and home life, caregiving and self-care, and the many responsibilities you carry. Join us for our upcoming workshops which address areas of support for you and your household, campus benefits available to you, and strategies when navigating life as a working family. Additionally, if you are in need of resources, our program is available to guide you.
With Compassion,
Karen Patchell, MA
Work/Life Program Lead
|
|
Spring 2022 Caregiving Workshops |
|
To register, please click on the workshop titles below |
|
Thursday, February 24th, 12:10 - 1:30 pm
Speaker: Kate Ekman, Clinical Psychologist
Childhood anxiety has been on the rise for decades, and the incidence of children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder doubled in the first year of the pandemic. Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the most frequently diagnosed anxiety disorder, is defined in the DSM-5 as excessive anxiety and worry occurring more days than not (for at least 6 months) about a number of events or activities. Other children experience anxiety that is specific rather than generalized, related to separation, social activities, or phobias. Anxiety can present in a multitude of ways. Symptomology can include mood changes such as increased irritability, distressing thinking patterns, and somatic manifestations such as muscle tension and stomachaches.
This workshop is designed to teach parents how to help anxious children help themselves! We will discuss the neurobiological origins of anxiety and how to present this to children in a framework they can understand and resonate with. With this understanding, you and your child can work together to take charge of and manage their anxiety using a variety of skills targeting cognitive and somatic symptoms.
Thursday, March 10th, 12:10 - 1 pm
Speakers: Yvette Escobar, UCB Disability Counselor, Kristin Rissanen Ikuta , UCB Academic Personnel, Nicole Roces,Employee/Labor Relations Consultant, Gabe Schmidt, Healthcare Facilitator
Thinking about starting a family? This workshop will provide information on leave policies, disability benefits, use of sick/vacation time, and options on when/how to return to work after having a child for both faculty and staff employees.
Thursday, March 31st, 12:10 - 1 pm
Speaker: Karen Patchell, MA., Elliott DiTusa, LPCC., Mary Kelly, MS, Greg Ryan,
The transition back to work after baby bonding for both birth and non-birth parents can feel overwhelming under regular circumstances. During a pandemic, with remote work for many, it comes with even more challenges, and some opportunities. It can be filled with a vast array of emotions, concerns, and limitations, not to mention demanding and conflicting schedules.
Join us for this virtual panel workshop focused on understanding both positive and negative emotions related to this transition, how to establish boundaries at work, benefits and accommodations available to working parents, ergonomic strategies for multiple workstations, and self-care resources to help ease the physical and mental pressure associated with working while caregiving for a young child.
Thursday, April 7th, 1 pm - 4:15 pm
Speaker: Tina Benitez/Nicole Castillo
This class is FREE to UC Berkeley faculty, staff, students, and their spouses/domestic partners.
This 3 hour class is taught by a certified lactation consultant and is broken up into two parts.
The first portion of the class, 1-3pm, addresses breastfeeding basics and problem solving. The second portion of class, 3:15-4:15pm, covers returning-to-work planning and breast pumps. Those who have already attended a breastfeeding class are welcome to join the last portion of the class.
Thursday, May 19th, 12:10 - 1 pm
Speaker: Karen Patchell, MA
The demands of caregiving children and teenagers, while also working, can keep us so busy and overloaded, that we are often unable to find time to think about or nurture our own needs. This can put us at risk of overwhelm, burnout, and heightened self-criticism. Join us for this interactive workshop which will focus on understanding self-compassion, how we can be kinder to ourselves during moments of stress, and strategies for turning fault-finding into recognition of all that we hold.
|
|
Spring 2022 Financial Wellness Workshops |
|
To register, please click on the workshop titles below |
|
Tuesday, March 8th,12:10 - 1 pm
Speaker: Laura Crymble, Fidelity
Whether you’re just starting out or nearing retirement, this class helps you learn simple steps you can take to achieve your financial goals. It also includes ways to build healthy financial habits, save for multiple goals, and invest wisely, so that you can take control of your financial future.
Tuesday, March 8th, 11 am - 1 pm
Speaker: Scott Sylva, UC Retirement Administration Service Center (RASC)
Presented by representatives from the Retirement Administration Service Center (RASC), this webinar, for UCRP members considering retirement from UC within the next five years, covers topics such as understanding the UCRP pension benefits, retirement savings and retiree health coverage.
Tuesday, April 5th, 12:10 - 1 pm
Speaker: Nancy Pargot, Fidelity
This class offers manageable strategies and tools that can help you get a handle on spending and borrowing. It also covers how to develop a smart budget and ways to manage debt.
|
|
Be Well at Work Events
Be Well at Work recognizes that the past year and a half has been a mix of new experiences and emotions; some energizing, while some mentally and physically fatiguing. This time period has allowed us to both establish new practices, while also resuming some familiar activities. This spring, we encourage you to “refresh” your wellbeing by taking care of yourself in ways that best suit your individual needs. You can begin a new wellbeing plan, make an appointment, join a workshop, or simply set an intention. Be Well at Work is here to support you during this process, whichever path you choose. Visit uhs.berkeley.edu/bewellatwork to register today!
|
|
How to Support Kids Who Are Anxious About Returning to School |
Back-to-school jitters are normal every fall. But as families prepare for the beginning of the 2021–22 school year, these run-of-the-mill worries are colliding with fresh uncertainties about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, leaving kids and parents more anxious than usual... |
|
|
 |
With more than 250 episodes and 3 million downloads, the Tilt Parenting Podcast is a podcast about learning disabilities, special education, ADHD, autism, giftedness, twice-exceptionality, and more. The weekly show features transformational interviews and conversations with authors, parenting experts, educators, and other parents, as well as insightful conversations between Debbie and her differently wired child, all aimed at supporting parents raising differently wired kids. |
|
|
|
This show tells the stories of the children and their parents who find themselves in that one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, or even one in a million position of having a child with special needs and how they come to cope. Finding those odds apply to you and your child can be one of the most isolating and terrifying experiences of your life. But then sometimes it can also feel like winning the lottery.
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Free Community Webinars |
|
|
Hand in Hand Parenting:
Easier Meals
Wednesday, January 19th
noon - 1:30 pm
Do peaceful mealtimes feel like a distant dream? Are you facing a daily battleground? Do you want to solve why your child refuses to eat or help them be more adventurous with food? Learn ways to turn mealtimes into more connected, relaxed family time in this online, interactive workshop. Join Alison Kemi to learn practical tools you can use with children aged between 0-10.
|
Wednesday, February 2nd
noon - 1 pm
This free online class is being led by Pamela Quiery, parent coach and mentor for parents of children under 8 years old who want to be gentle but find themselves overwhelmed and frustrated by their child’s constant arguments and intense emotions.
|
|
|
|
Collaborative Practice East Bay:
Divorce Options
Wednesday, February 9th
3 pm - 6 pm
A FREE informational webinar open to those who want to learn more about the process of divorce.
- Hear how mediation, collaboration and other alternatives compare to litigation, from a divorce lawyer, a financial advisor and a family counselor.
- Understand the legal, financial, psychological and social issues of divorce.
- Learn how to talk about divorce with your children.
- Discover community resources available to help you.
-
Divorce Options™ workshops are open to all individuals and couples in California, who are contemplating separation or divorce:
- whether married, domestic partners or cohabiting
- whether same or opposite gender
- with or without children
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, a child psychologist and leading expert on families under stress, now offers a clear and practical guide to having the kinds of tough conversations with your kids that really help.
It’s not just how you talk to your kids that matters, but also what you say. The heart of the book is found in a series of conversation scripts, with actual dialogue, talking points, prompts, and insightful asides, each tailored for different ages and centered around different issues. Dr. Abi explains how to let the child lead conversations, how to not make the problem worse by saying more than a child needs to know, and how to check in with yourself to make sure your own anxiety doesn’t color the conversation.
|
|
Subscribe to our other Be Well at Work Newsletters:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
