The 2011 Staff Wellbeing Program

Community Development Manager at Counselling Orania Tokatlidis said different wellbeing related activities focused on its physical, psychological and spiritual dimensions. 

As part of the program, the team runs workshops and events for staff which promote a proactive stance towards health in the University community and encourage them to explore the ways in which they can an actively work towards a happy and fulfilling life.

This is the third year the program has run. 

Ms Tokatlidis said maintaining wellness, or the state of being and remaining well, was an ongoing challenge.  “It includes having important beliefs and values that guide one’s choices in life, plus social connections, habits of reflection, quiet thought, ways of calming oneself, altruism, creativity, and care of the mind and body,” she said. 

Ms Tokatlidis said this year’s program had been expanded to include lunchtime sessions on the first Thursday of the month, which have proved so popular, wellbeing services now run four per semester. 

“We have also repeated our most popular programs, which include the Introduction to Meditation, Enhancing Wellbeing, Emotional Intelligence and of course Mental Health related workshops,” she said. 

“The next lunchtime session will run on 2 June. Professor Simon Biggs from the School of Social and Political Health will speak on Midlife and Beyond, and present recent findings on navigating adult midlife processes successfully.”  

Ms Tokatlidis said the pace of work in universities had increased, and though the Counselling and Health Service saw staff members for individual appointments, they understood that offering access to group programs was an excellent way of providing support, and contributing to a culture of wellbeing and work/life balance.  

She said organisers were always keen to hear from staff about the kinds of activities they would like to see offered. The Counselling Service is running a short survey, which staff are invited to complete at http://cms.services.unimelb.edu.au/wellbeing/staff/wellbeing_program_survey

The full range of programs can be found at http://cms.services.unimelb.edu.au/wellbeing/staff