Through what she refers to as \u201cThe LASER Technique,\u201d Manning offers a five-step process for a compassionate response to employees with trauma for managers and anyone overseeing a group of people in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step is Listening<\/strong>, Manning advises, \u201cdon\u2019t interrupt and don\u2019t problem solve; just let [the employee] speak. Make room for that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second step is Acknowledge<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cit is straightforward: \u2018I\u2019m sorry,\u2019 or, \u2018that sounds difficult.\u2019 It lets [the employee] know you heard them, and they are likely to listen to what you share next,\u201d Manning said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The third is Sharing information<\/strong>, \u201cJohn F. Kennedy said in times of turbulence it is more accurate than ever that knowledge is power,\u201d Manning said. \u201cWhen we share, we get a little of that power back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step four is Empower<\/strong>. This step is about recognizing that the person in trauma has their own journey to walk. She advises, \u201cyou must set boundaries for yourself, but within that, you can give [the employee] tools to take with them on that journey.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if the company offers mental health resources, share those with the cohort. Affirming boundaries while offering resources \u2013 such as 988<\/a>– the U.S. new national hotline for suicide and mental health crises \u2013creates a comfortable space for the individual while you guide them in the proper direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Step five \u2013 Return<\/strong>. By setting boundaries, you’re caring for your mental health while helping the individual facing trauma. It would help if you watched for yourself, and Manning\u2019s advice for that is investing in self-care. \u201cI do a little bit of yoga and meditation every morning. Just do something every day that gives back to yourself,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Affirming boundaries while offering resources \u2013 such as 988<\/a>– the U.S. new national hotline for suicide and mental health crises \u2013creates a comfortable space for the individual while you guide them in the proper direction.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n This is how we respond, but next is making sure that the people that come to us in the first place are encouraged to do so. \u201cPeople underestimate how valuable it is to check in on the people in our lives,\u201d Manning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From highlighting common incidents such as workplace violence and employee safety, to recognizing needs and developing resources such as miscarriage leave, gender-affirming medical care, or domestic violence, sharing resources is vital. \u201cDo you have these policies within your organization? If not, think about that,\u201d Manning said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the second pillar of trauma-informed workplaces. Manning advises, \u201cmake sure you’re getting input from those affected \u2013 don\u2019t create a phenomenal gender-affirming care policy without first talking to transgender individuals.\u201d The dormant items will not do anyone any good if they\u2019re sitting on a shelf with no one discussing them.Her book, \u201cThe Empathetic Workplace,\u201d describes other pillars in responding to trauma and distress amongst our coworkers and supervisors. Next month, she is launching a course diving deeper into making workplaces more empathetic, thus creating a healthier work environment for all employees. You can check out the website<\/a> for more details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mental safety, as is dealing with trauma, is vital to creating a healthy workplace. Katharine Manning guides these topics for employees in the workforce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4103,"featured_media":7913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1133,758,759,12],"tags":[1604,38,1094,1600,100,1602,1565,1607,1598,1599,1603,1601,951,580],"class_list":["post-7912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-events","category-events","category-local-events","category-news","tag-1604","tag-acc","tag-accent","tag-acknowledge","tag-austin-community-college","tag-empower","tag-foster-milburn","tag-informed-workspaces","tag-laser-technique","tag-listen","tag-return","tag-share","tag-students","tag-sxsw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/157\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-15-at-9.52.25-AM-1024x589.png\")
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