RAM Center (Higgins Lake)- Supporting Yourself While Supporting Others

This workshop will focus on wellness, self-care, and empowering peers to develop a sustainable support practice. Participants will begin with a check-in to reflect on where they are that day and identify what they need to feel supported. This will be followed by a guided mindfulness session to promote grounding, presence, and emotional well-being.

The group will explore the importance of peers accessing help themselves, emphasizing that supporting others requires recognizing and addressing our own needs. The workshop will also touch on the connection between food and mood, including dietary approaches and empowering choices that can better support physical health, mental health, and recovery from substance use. Participants will also engage in a light physical group activity designed to encourage movement, connection, and overall wellness. The workshop will conclude by providing an opportunity for participants to reflect, share takeaways, and identify ways to carry the wellness practices discussed into their daily lives.

Objectives:

• Developing your own coping strategies.
• Learning to manage work/life balance.
• Making mindful food choices to support your recovery journey.
• Learn how to control your breath.

Trainer:

Justin Volpe, Senior Peer Support Coordinator, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), is an international consultant, advocate, and peer specialist based out of Miami, FL. He has presented and trained mental health facilities and other organizations on trauma informed care practices and used his life experiences as lessons to what appropriate care should look like from a community level. Previously before his role with NASMHPD, Justin worked as a Jail Diversion Peer Liaison for the 11th Judicial Criminal Mental Health Project for 14 years. He has worked as a Certified Recovery Peer Specialist in Florida since 2008 and has extensive work experience in the community. Justin has supervised and coordinated thousands of engagements with participants with serious mental health and co-occurring issues in the criminal justice system. He has assisted in training 4,000 Miami Dade Law Enforcement Officers in Crisis Intervention Team Training. His passion for this work is based on bringing systems together locally and nationally while reducing stigma and advocating for the persons served. Justin has been in two Public Broadcasting Services documentaries, The Definition of Insanity, (2020) with his experience with the Jail Diversion Program and the Ken Burns Documentary: “Hiding in Plain Sight” (2022) on youth mental health. He was published in the Washington Post in 2015 and has many other news appearances and published articles on his recovery journey.

Interested in attending additional trainings at the RAM Retreat Center this week?

Please select any additional training sessions you would like to attend, below are links for all available trainings at Higgins, you must sign up for each separately:

• Monday, October 26: Ethics and Boundaries or 8 Dimensions of Wellness
• Tuesday, October 27: Building Financial Wellness or Supporting Yourself while Supporting Others
• Wednesday, October 28: Moral Injury or Advanced Ethics and Boundaries
• Thursday October 29: Seeing through the Lens of Trauma, or Not Every Storm is a Crisis: Exploring the Difference
• Friday, October 30: Leading with Conviction or Holistic Recovery Explorations

Registration: Please register below (on this site) using a credit or debit card, which is the quickest way to confirm your attendance.

ONLY if you need to pay by check, please complete this form (click here) and email it to: registration@mipeers.org. Do not use this form if you are paying by credit/debit card. Please note that this form takes up to 5 business days for processing, and placement is not assured until you receive a confirmation of your registration.

Cancellation Policy: Registrations may be transferred to another employee of the same agency upon written request to registration@mipeers.org. Cancellations must be received in writing at least 12 days prior to the date of the training. Failure to cancel registration within the allotted time will result in registration fees being forfeited. For questions, e-mail registration@mipeers.org.

Attendance Policy: You must attend the entire training. If you are more than 10 minutes late you will not be allowed to attend as part of the CE requirements. Breaks are built into the training schedule. Participants who miss more than 10 minutes of the training outside of scheduled breaks will not receive CE credit. Attendees must follow the training guidelines.