Description
Thrive @ Work seeks to develop employees’ self-awareness and self-leadership skills. It trains their ability to focus as well as teach them ways to cope with stress and generally improve their wellbeing.
Mindfulness has been identified as one of the most effective tools in developing stress resilience. The course will not only teach how to manage stress more effectively but will also develop adaptability to change and create a sense of empowerment in participants. The uniqueness of mindfulness is that is recognizes stress as a natural part of life, something that we cannot get rid of. The best option for a fulfilling life is to stop fighting against it and learn how to manage it in everyday life. This requires us to learn some new skills, which gives us “psychological flexibility”. It enables people to focus and fully engage in what they are doing rather than getting pushed around by their thoughts and feelings. In the ACT tradition, psychological flexibility is developed through three main skills:
- Increased awareness of the present moment – by increasing one’s sensitivity to what is happening in the present moment we can discriminate between what we are actually observing with our 5 senses and what our sometimes unreliable minds tell us is happening. We learn to spend less time worrying about the future or ruminating about the past which allows us to be more focused and efficient in the present moment.
- Cognitive defusion – this means developing the ability to watch thoughts come and go, and then choosing which thoughts to act on, rather than getting ‘hooked’ by difficult or disruptive thoughts. It is not about changing thoughts but changing one’s relationship to them.
- Values-based action – psychological flexibility is ultimately about focusing attention on what it is we really want to achieve. Increasing awareness of our values helps build motivation and enables us take positive and sustained action, even when doing so is challenging.
Increased psychological flexibility not only increases personal resilience and well-being but, in a workplace, it also enhances values-directed behavior, people experience higher levels of motivation, task-focus and performance.
In sum, the benefits of the course:
- Develops self-awareness and self-leadership skills
- Trains focus, clarity and ability to prioritize tasks
- Reduces stress reactivity and anxiety and gives tools to protect oneself from the effects of chronic stress
- Creates a shift from reactive behavior to intentional response
- Builds resilience, adaptability and confidence
- Develops ability to manage change and insecurity
- Teaches skills for wellbeing and self-care
- Enhances empathy, compassion, communication and relationship skills
