Explore Encompas’ growing library of educational tools, information, and videos on important mental health and wellness topics. Hosted by various credible organizations and professionals in the field, this page offers information and strategies to improve mental wellness in everyday life.
Educational Videos
Mindfulness can be a useful practice to help ground, build resiliency and improve our overall wellbeing. Mindfulness is something that will look different for each individual. We can’t change every little thing that happens to us but we can change the way we experience it. That is the potential of mindfulness.
22-minute guided meditation which can be used as a tool for grounding and remaining present. This is one example of a practicing mindfulness that you may find works for you.
This video is not diagnostic in nature.
This video is not diagnostic in nature.
This video is not diagnostic in nature.
Mindfulness can promote better sleep, mood, and feelings of wellbeing. It’s a supportive tool that can enhance your productivity, improve your communication, increase connection, and promote intentional living. Plus, it’s simple!
New studies emphasize the benefits of mindfulness and the positive effects it has on physical and mental health. In this webinar, we dig into these benefits with an introduction to mindfulness, review practical tools for everyday mindfulness, and walk through some ideas on how to approach mindfulness when you want to target a specific behaviour.
Speaker: Dr. Terri-Lynn MacKay PhD, clinical psychologist, clinician, and clinical director of ALAViDA.
What you will learn:
– The evidence-based benefits of mindfulness
– Simple tools to implement mindfulness into your daily life
– How to harness mindfulness to reduce or change a behaviour, and
– The science behind creating healthy habits through mindfulness and how to make them stick.
Click here to watch the webinar.
This video is not diagnostic in nature.
Guy Winch makes a compelling case to practice emotional hygiene — taking care of our emotions, our minds, with the same diligence we take care of our bodies.
Joining Article: 7 Ways to Practice Emotional First Aid
Video Source: https://www.ted.com/talks/guy_winch_why_we_all_need_to_practice_emotional_first_aid/transcript
Our residential care partner Wounded Warriors Canada has provided a few short educational videos to provide useful tools that are basic and help build coping skills when dealing with trauma. Accessible from Home due to COIVD.
WWC COVID-19 SUPPORT – BETR Model
WWC COVID-19 SUPPORT – BETR Model FRENCH
WWC COVID-19 SUPPORT – Resource Kits
WWC COVID-19 SUPPORT – Resource Kits FRENCH
Podcasts
The Encompas Mental Health Wellness Program has become the go to resource for members of the OPPA in need of assistance.
Encompas is delivered by Dalton Associates. Their CEO, Carl Dalton, joined the 10-5 Podcast to talk about the program, including a background on services offered, the role of Dalton Associates in the Encompas program, and the successes and next steps for the program.
The Encompas Mental Health Wellness Program is available to eligible active and retired OPPA Members and their families.
Encompas Mental Health Wellness Program Support Services Coordinators Jen Welsh and Alana Amlinger join guest host Carl Dalton to discuss their roles with the program, with a focus on children and spouses of OPP Association members.
What does it mean to truly be Resilient? Dr. Hanson explains the importance of Resilience and HOW we can grow the most important strength for achieving reliable happiness.
Mindfulness can be a useful practice to help ground, build resiliency and improve our overall wellbeing. Mindfulness is something that will look different for each individual. This podcast answers how we can use mindfulness in practical ways in the flow of our daily lives.
This episode of the 10-5 Podcast features a conversation around the topic of suicide that may be triggering for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised.
Dr. Allison Crawford and Carl Dalton join the 10-5 Podcast to start an important conversation around suicide awareness. This includes:
- Dr. Crawford’s work to created suicide prevention awareness strategies and programs (4:16)
- How do we start a conversation about suicide (7:14)
- Shifts in stigma around suicide and discussing it (13:23)
- Responding to questions about why people die by suicide and the predictability of suicide (14:46)
- Prevention strategies or models that are being used currently (18:42)
- What members can do for each other if they are concerned about a colleague or loved one, recommended and helpful treatments for people experiencing suicide ideation (23:55)
Dr. Allison Crawford is a Psychiatrist and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Additionally, she is the Associate Chief of Virtual Mental Health and Outreach at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CaMH) and the Chief Medical Officer of the Canada Suicide Prevention Service.
Carl Dalton is a Registered Social Worker and CEO of Dalton Associates, the organization that powers the Encompas Mental Health Wellness Program.
A mental health check-in with First Responders for First Responders, Armed Forces and persons exposed to and dealing with trauma. Navigating, managing and living life with PTSD.
Mobile Apps
For those in recovery, this app provides a recovery calculator, inventories & amends, sponsor members, instant chats, on awakening & night time inventories prayers, readings, AA Big Book and more.
For those in recovery Brought to you by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., Meeting Guide is a free of charge app that provides meeting information from A.A. service entities in an easy-to-access format. Up to date meeting information including online meeting information during COVID.
Calm is a leading app for meditation and sleep. Join the millions experiencing lower stress, less anxiety, and more restful sleep with our guided meditations, Sleep Stories, breathing programs, masterclasses, and relaxing music. Recommended by top psychologists, therapists, and mental health experts.
Self-Assessment Tools
A self-assessment can help to determine how mentally fit you are and identify signs or symptoms of various mental health challenges. These assessments are not a substitute for a medical diagnosis, and are for informational purposes only.
Substance use disorders are a common mental health challenge that affect people from all walks of life. That said, sometimes treatment options are inaccessible – such as a long-term residential program, or frequent in-person groups or individual sessions. Fortunately, virtual treatment can allow people to overcome these barriers to recovery. ALAViDA, Canada’s first virtual substance use management care provider, is a science-based solution that delivers an immersive experience developed by medical professionals with a comprehensive background on substance use disorders and delivered by technology. ALAViDA’s mission is to improve the treatment of substance use disorders by educating broadly to reduce the stigma and bringing the same scientific approach that has existed in other areas of the medical community for decades.
Now available to OPPA members and dependents through the Encompas program, ALAViDA is on a mission to help people reduce their consumption and regain control in their relationship with alcohol or substances. That process begins with a self-assessment designed to help you determine your alcohol consumption risk, and what kind of help, if any, might be right for you.
Whether you want to be proactive about your health, regain control in your relationship with alcohol and drugs, or support a loved one, ALAViDA can help. It’s 100% confidential and designed to work with your life. You get easy access to substance use care right from your smartphone. Evidence-based resources are available 24 h, and you can text or meet ALAViDA coaches, therapists and physicians securely from home.
Services are provided solely by ALAViDA. Your personal information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with anyone without your explicit consent to do so. To learn more about ALAViDA speak to an Encompas Care Manager at 1-866-794-9117 or visit https://try.alavida.co/encompas/
Go through this list to check off how you are feeling right now and take this to your health professional to help them provide you with options for wellness.
https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/employee-resources/what-are-you-feeling
Sometimes when we are struggling, it’s hard to step back and get a clear look at how we are doing. These are questions you can ask yourself to help you get a picture of what’s going on with you. You can take this sheet with you to help you talk to your doctor or therapist.
https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/employee-resources/whats-going-on
A collection of anonymous online screening tools provided to help identify symptoms of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
This test will help you understand the characteristics that make up good mental health, including the ability to enjoy life, resilience, balance, self-actualization, and flexibility.
Achieving work/life balance means having equilibrium among all the priorities in your life – this state of balance is different for every person. But, as difficult as work/life balance is to define, most of us know when we’re out of balance. This quiz will help you find out about your personal balance.
Take various screening tests, including: depression, anxiety, risky drinking, well-being, and cannabis use.
This mental health check-up can identify some symptoms of depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder so you can get help if you need it.
https://mooddisorders.ca/sites/mooddisorders.ca/quiz2/checkup.php
Mental Health Information and Strategies
Provides resources for building resilience, interacting with others, and communicating effectively.
https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/employee-resources/personal-development
In its 2018 budget, the Government of Canada identified the treatment of post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) as a priority for the country’s public safety personnel (PSP). As a result, a new National Research Consortium between the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) was formed and CIPSRT, under the scientific direction of multi-disciplinary researchers from across Canada. CIPSRT serves as the Knowledge Exchange Hub for this consortium with the focus on post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) in Public Safety Personnel (PSP) with the goal of collaboration to address mental health and wellbeing research requirements of Canadian public safety personnel and their families.
Click here: https://www.cipsrt-icrtsp.ca/ to access their research, internet delivered treatment (through PSPNET also available through Encompas), training and other valuable knowledge resources. The Encompas Care Management Team is here to support you 24/7/365 at 1 866 794-9117 or info@encompascare.ca if you have any needs or questions.
An infographic that helps your child understand your job including: conversation starters, suggestions of how to explain your daily duties, and answers to other questions your young child may have.
An infographic breaking down the most important parts of financial planning for families of law enforcement including: budgeting, saving, debt management, and credit scores.
Helpful information for families of people with co-occurring mental health and substance use problems.
Exclusively for spouses, partners, children and the immediate family of OPP members, OPP Beyond The Blue offers support to provide education, training and practical tools to enable families to thrive as a support system for police service personnel – police personnel are welcome to attend events as well!
Beyond The Blue (BTB) is an independent, peer led, non-profit organization dedicated to serving the off duty partners of police officers.
Spouses and children of law enforcement officers face a unique set of circumstances that lends itself to the need for emotional support, better awareness, and training. BTB coordinates resources that aid in offering training and practical tools to spouses and families for the enrichment of life with their police service personnel.
Support begins at home. The benefits of joining OPP Beyond The Blue include:
- Access to resources, tools and training
- Improved social connections
- Gained sense of empowerment
- Improved coping skills
- Access to private events and workshops
- Access to peer support
For more information about OPP Beyond The Blue and becoming a member, visit OPPBeyondTheBlue.com. We encourage you to share this information with your family members and loved ones.
Together with our partners, we are removing barriers to services and normalizing access to mental health care as part of our everyday lives.
Resilience means being able to adapt to life’s misfortunes and setbacks. Test your resilience level and get tips to build your own resilience.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311
An online community providing opportunities for first responders and their families to connect, learn, and support one another.
If you have made previous attempts to quit smoking or are thinking about smoking cessation, below are resources providing the benefits, a variety of tips and support to begin and perhaps find what can work for you.
- https://www.ontario.ca/page/support-quit-smoking – Support to quit smoking
- https://smokershelpline.ca/ – Smokers’ Helpline has proven, free and personalized tools to help you quit successfully.
Courses
What is the First Eyes® Proactive Family Mental Health Program?
First Eyes® is a 3-hour workshop and its goal is to minimize the impact and affect that a “mental injury or illness”, like PTSD, can have on:
- an “at-risk” person
- their “partner”
- their family, and
- their friends
With early detection and a planned intervention, the likelihood for positive outcomes in a shorter period of time is increased.
Remain Anonymous
At no time during the workshop will you be asked to disclose your surname, occupation, or location.
What’s included in the workshop?
The workshop provides the participants (an “at-risk” person and their “partner”as defined on our webpage) with:
- clinical information about mental injuries and illnesses
- shared real-life experiences from someone who suffers from a mental injury or illness
- a better understanding of how mental injuries & illnesses impact relationships, families & friends
- an open Q & A discussion period
- a personalized “care plan” that they will create together during the workshop
- ongoing support through our website to answer any post-workshop questions
Having a care plan that can be immediately activated in time of need can save valuable time in getting all those concerned the help and support they will need to work through the challenging times ahead.
Cost: $200/couple
Learn More: https://firsteyes.ca/
Neither the OPPA nor Encompas are affiliated with the resources being provided. You are not obligated to access any of these resources as part of your involvement with the Encompas Program. These resources are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they have been chosen for their clinical relevance to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the Encompas membership and they are not intended to provide a diagnosis. The provision of these resources does not constitute an endorsement or an approval by OPPA or Encompas of any of the opinions of the provider and OPPA and Encompas bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of these resources, of the external site or of subsequent links.
Neither the OPPA nor Encompas are affiliated with the resources being provided. You are not obligated to access any of these resources as part of your involvement with the Encompas Program. These resources are being provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; they have been chosen for their clinical relevance to improving the mental health and wellbeing of the Encompas membership and they are not intended to provide a diagnosis. The provision of these resources does not constitute an endorsement or an approval by OPPA or Encompas of any of the opinions of the provider and OPPA and Encompas bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of these resources, of the external site or of subsequent links.