It happened again, didn’t it?
One of your counsellors left for another job, maternity leave, or to return to school, leaving a giant HOLE in your agency!|
I FEEL YOU!
You invested in their training and development and you relied on them to provide their unique brand of program or service to your clients, and now they’re gone. There was no time for succession planning, and now you’re scrambling.
What are your choices?
- Scrap the program. That will likely upset your funders, and it doesn’t service clients.
- Insert someone else as the facilitator and cross your fingers that they’ll figure it out. The program will go on but you won’t likely see the results you want, and clients won’t get the best service or achieve the best possible outcomes.
- Invest in training someone new, and hope to heaven that they don’t leave you in the lurch… again.
OR
You could ensure that your program is sustainable for years to come by having a couple of certified trainers on your team! Let me explain how this works.
You invest ONCE in training ONE or TWO Certified Anger Solutions Trainers. They, in turn, certify one or ALL of your team as Anger Solutions Facilitators, ensuring you will always have someone to fill the gap.
I call this “The Sault Model”. The Canadian Mental Health Association of Sault Ste. Marie first certified TWO trainers in 2006. That’s right. 2006. They immediately started delivering groups with great success. They then provided training to their community, and used the funds to finance their in-house Anger Solutions programming. Next, they partnered with Algoma Public Health, training some of the staff in the Addictions Program. They then worked together, facilitating groups for folks with mental health and addiction problems. When CMHA Sault Ste. Marie saw how those groups were producing consistent successful client outcomes, they made Anger Solutions training mandatory for ALL staff, AND they made it a requirement for new employees.
Here’s WHY.
- They invested in TWO trainers SEVENTEEN years ago, and while one of the trainers moved on, the other is still there, and she is able to continue providing training to new staff.
- With everyone on the team competent in Anger Solutions, if someone gets sick, goes on vacation, returns to school, goes on maternity leave, or just quits, the agency is covered.
- Even the resource/intake worker knows what questions to ask, and can make the right referrals.
- Every mental health worker can reinforce what clients learn in group sessions because they are all speaking the same language.
The investment the agency made all those years ago continues to pay off in spades!
YOU CAN REPLICATE THE SAULT MODEL in your agency by enrolling one or two of your team members in our Certifed Anger Solutions Trainer Program.
Why do I suggest training TWO?
Take a look at the Sault Model. In sixteen years, one trainer left but the other stayed. Because the agency had invested in two trainers, there has been no interruption to services in all that time (with the exception of COVID). Had they only had one trainer, things could have continued for a while, but staff turnover in social services is HIGH – especially in the front-line staff. Eventually, CMHA would have needed to train more people, and that would mean investing AGAIN in Facilitator training, pulling funds from an already stretched budget.
Do you see how that works? INVEST ONCE, REAP THE ROI FOR YEARS TO COME!
The Anger Solutions Certified Trainer Program includes Facilitator Certification and ALL the resources Facilitators and Trainers need.