Cost: $100 for Community Action Agency staff; $110 for non-CAA staff (includes lunch)

Target Audience: Direct services staff (counselors, case managers, intake workers, teachers, teacher aides, etc.) in Community Action Agencies and other human services organizations

This five-hour workshop will provide direct services staff with the skills and techniques to recognize when personal and professional boundaries have been crossed and how to effectively manage those situations. Topics to be covered will include recognizing compassion fatigue, triggers, and knowing the difference between helping and empowering, as well as effective self-care practices to help prevent burnout. This is a highly interactive workshop that will provide many opportunities for practicing the new skills you learn. 

Facilitator: Tom Ellis, CPC, is the owner and operator of Tom Ellis Coaching in West Newbury, MA.  Tom is a former employee at a Massachusetts Community Action Agency where he counseled and coached youth and adults in education and training programs and in the last 30 years has held multiple positions such as a teacher, trainer, artist, counselor, case manager, IT support, advocate, hospice volunteer, mediator and his current role as Life Coach in various industries. In his spare time, Tom lives on a small farm that is home to alpacas, goats, chickens, ducks and some labs.