Thinking outside the box

BY APRIL MUNRO-WOOD, MSW, RSW, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR

When I joined the Professional Development Committee in July 2017 I embraced the College’s spirit of providing quality and innovative learning opportunities for the membership. In May 2019 the membership embraced this journey engaging in a two day conference, "Keys to Resilience, Healing and Trauma Informed Social Work Practice." This conference was indeed a labour of love and a joy to host. So many enthusiastic, knowledgeable and creative speakers who imparted upon us their years of experience, insights and recommendations.

Looking back, my fondest memories of this conference involved the sea of faces before me. So much diversity, experience and passion all in one room waiting to listen and learn. I will admit I took great pleasure introducing the committee members who worked so hard in bringing this event to the membership.

In addition to conference planning, the committee’s role in 2019 included presenting learning opportunities for College members in the form of workshops and presentations across the province.We designed a program that covered topics such as social work ethics, trauma informed practice, cultivating compassion, professional identity and working with First Nations. These sessions were designed and hosted as inperson events. In the later part of 2019 the committee was once again hard at work preparing for the planned May 2020 conference, "Mental Health, Today & Tomorrow," and confirming and scheduling further events for our 2020 programming. Then COVID-19 came upon the world.

As the world, our country and our province responds to COVID-19, our committee has not paused its work. The 2020 conference, Mental Health, Today & Tomorrow, and all scheduled opportunities that were to be hosted in communities across the province have been cancelled, for now. However, we are reviewing the content of these presentations, and will continue to generate ideas for how this information can be shared with the members of our College.

Our committee is comprised of a dedicated number of members who bring their passion, knowledge and energy to the table for one hour, via teleconference, every second Tuesday between September and June. In September we will once again open this committee to new members. If you are passionate about the quality of educational experiences our membership receives, please join us.

Committee members:

Craig Besaw, Brandy Gryshik, Crystal Hill, Helen Luedee, Claire Sampson-MacDonald, Joanne Sulman, April Munro-Wood (Chair), Annemieke Vink (Staff)