Every Mind Matters Newsletter
May 2020
Dear friends of The Psychology Foundation of Canada,
 
As COVID-19 restrictions are easing in some provinces and with summer fast approaching there is a growing sense of optimism and hope. We understand that the road ahead will be long and unpredictable but we can take some joy in how well and quickly we have adapted to this new normal of physical distancing and staying-at-home.  
 
Our mission of nurturing resilience in children and youth giving them the skills to manage adversity continues to be of utmost importance. Like everyone else, we are doing things a little differently because Canadian families need us more than they ever have before. We have transformed our service delivery model. We now offer our psychology and evidence-based programs digitally to ensure communities and our child-serving partners have access to our much-needed programs and resources at this critical time. We’ve also created access to our leading psychologists and experts through an additional webinar series. And we are engaging more on social media to ensure we connect with and provide strategies and tactics to parents and professionals on ways for our children to cope, move on, learn from and grow.
 
In this issue we pay tribute to our experts and partners who are helping us support children and families through this unprecedented time. We are also very grateful to our supporters who continue to provide financial contributions to ensure our valuable programs and resources are delivered to communities in need at no costs.
Meet Sheena, Health & Physical Education Teacher
“As a Physical Education teacher we are often a sound board for our students to go to with their problems and concerns,”  claimed Sheena who is a Health and Physical Education (H&PE) teacher in Toronto. During this time of uncertainty this special bond is even more important for Sheena  “I am sending out as much useful information as I can without overwhelming my students on line. Making them aware of the importance of mental health during Covid and how to cope with this change.”    Sheena was amongst 86 other H&PE teachers who recently attended our Kids Have Stress Too! digital workshop. The training is designed to help educators create teachable moments to introduce stress management strategies and build emotional resiliency with their students.  READ MORE .
Getting to know Dr. Harvey Skinner, psychologist and Board of Trustee

Dr. Harvey Skinner, otherwise known as ‘Grandpa Harvey’, is a Registered Psychologist in Ontario and a certified trainer in Motivational Interviewing. He is a professor of Psychology and Global Health at York University and was the inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Health (2006-2016). Previously, he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. 
 
No doubt Dr. Skinner is an accomplished psychologist but did you know he has taken advanced training in Capacitar practices, is father of 5 (Mark, Ana, Russ, Jeff, Lily), grandpa to 7 (Lena, Nate, Maya, Sean, Hailey, Matty, Amelia) and daily practises both meditation and Qi Gong. READ MORE
Listen to Dr. Robin Alter’s interview on stress management

Dr. Robin Alter, clinical psychologist and long standing member of our Board of Trustees, was recently interviewed on  What She Said Radio  to explain how the stress of quarantine is manifesting itself in our children and teens. She offers some great tips for helping them cope.  LISTEN HERE
Thanks to The Gordon and Ruth Gooder Charitable Foundation
Fifty child-caring professionals in Thunder Bay and surrounding areas were provided access to our  Stress Lessons: Tools for Resiliency  training thanks to the support of The Gordon and Ruth Gooder Charitable Foundation. Participants were Indigenous counsellors and youth workers from organizations including the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, Lakehead District School Board, Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre, Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. READ MORE
Grateful for continued support from CIBC
CIBC and the CIBC Children’s Foundation are long-time supporters of our programs and we are fortunate to receive their support again. Thanks to CIBC Children’s Foundation we will provide our evidence-based programs and resources to Newcomer communities in Quebec. Given our new reality of physical distancing, we are pleased to offer this training digitally to 50 French speaking child-caring professionals. 
Going digital thanks to Deloitte
Over the past few months we have been fortunate to work with a team of experts at Deloitte to develop our digital learning and audience engagement plan. This is a critical step to ensuring that we leverage technology to maximize reach and increase access to our very important programs with communities across Canada.  Thanks to Deloitte we have prioritized our current needs, identified future guidelines and established new opportunities to support our goal that every child in Canada has the opportunity to thrive.

Your donation is needed now more than ever
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This pandemic is having an impact on parents/caregivers and our community partners who are critical to our efforts in nurturing resilience in our children. Their needs are immediate and we want to be there to support and provide for them. Please consider DONATING today. Thank you!


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Please visit our website frequently for updates on:
The Psychology Foundation of Canada
Phone : 416 644 4944 Email: info@psychologyfoundation.org