In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the University of Colorado Department of Psychiatry and ECHO Colorado offered live sessions since July 2020 of Past the Pandemic curriculum to 12 cohorts totaling over a thousand health care workers in Colorado and 26 other states. Following completion of this series, participants reported improvements in sense of connection, ability to manage stressors and worries, reduced professional isolation, and increased professional satisfaction. Acknowledging the chronic nature of stress we continue to face, this series has been improved and adapted to fit the current scope of needs of health care workers. We are partnering with CO-CARES state-wide initiative to increase access to mental health resources for all health care and public health workers in Colorado. Visit www.co-cares.org for more information and access to programs and trainings for individuals, peer champions, and organizations at no cost.
The series is developed and led by mental health professionals, including providers with decades of experience in working with first responders and health care workers. The Stress Continuum model is utilized as the foundational language and awareness around our universal experiences of chronic stress. These experts present and lead discussion on a variety of topics to build skills to increase capacity and mitigate impact of stress and burnout. Psychoeducational topics include the biology of stress, relationships, role management, mindfulness, connection, and grief. You will walk away from this series with tangible tools to utilize in your day-to-day professional and personal life. We have also developed an Asynchronous version of the course if you cannot make it to the live sessions. See more about this and other program offerings in the About tab.
See our impact in Colorado and the United States, displaying number of participants for our first 12 Cohorts.
Images credited to ECHO Colorado.
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If you’re feeling irritable, chronically stressed, overwhelmed, or feeling like no one understands your stress or is willing to help, you may be feeling depleted. This could lead to stress injury, and if not recognized or treated, may lead to further impact in your professional and personal life. Some other signs of burnout or stress injury may be:
- Dread going into work
- Anxiety
- Depersonalization or feeling detached
- Physical or Emotional exhaustion
- Insomnia or poor sleep
- Decreased self esteem
- Increased use of alcohol or drugs to cope
- Impaired concentration or focus…
If any of these apply to you, you are not alone.
We are here for you and want to connect with you with one of our program options.
See which program is best for you by clicking here.
See our program featured on Denver's 9News in June 2022 and September 2021.
View full article here.
If you are not in the health care work force, but are an Educator in Colorado, please refer to www.coloradoeducatorsupport.com for resources and support.
Here’s what past participants said about the program..
“I appreciate you taking the time to set this series up for us. I have noticed that even gaining one or two small nuggets from each session have helped to bring me down from a heightened level of stress and anxiety. It is great to have knowledge and skills to move consistently into the ‘GREEN’. It is much easier to be positive when knowing that it is really okay to not be okay, and to be able to work through it without ‘freaking out’. Thanks very much!”
"When I started this I didn’t have any great expectations. I was hoping for perhaps a Band-Aid. What I have found is more profound and helpful. I needed this more than I realized at the time. It has given me hope."
"I am going to try to check in with myself more frequently. This series made me realize I don't check in on my own stress level often.. I just push through."
"Thank you for the opportunity to have participated. I looked forward to the sessions. The sessions helped ground me and on challenging days, I went from a yellow or orange zone to the green zone. I was more productive and cheerful both at work and in my personal life. It was an excellent experience."
