By Kimberley Cheng, 4A Honours Planning co-op student
Through a powerful work term at an important Canadian community organization, a Therapeutic Recreation student greatly improved her communication skills.
Haley recently completed a volunteer work term at the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA). She worked as a support line listener and took up flexible four-hour shifts to assist on a 24-hour support line.
“Communication, listening, interpersonal skills are all at the forefront of this position and they’re going to help carry me through my next co-op term and my career.”
To have a work term experience that was best suited for her chosen career path, Haley exhibited strong initiative, opting to arrange her own role at the CMHA.
Program helps prepare Haley for the workforce
Developmental and Emotional Disabilities, a course taken as part of her program curriculum and Psychopathology, taken as an elective, helped to prepare her for some of the calls, Haley explains.
As support line listeners are not trained therapists or psychologists, they do their best to provide advice, suggestions, validation, encouragement and try to help people help themselves. If needed, Haley passed the call over to their crisis line.
Haley logged each call with information such as what the caller likes, what they dislike, what their triggers are and what makes them happy, to have a better handle on how to provide support.
“It takes a lot to be able to do this, and it’s definitely been a learning curve,” she says.
“My supervisors and my other management contacts have been great, I can reach out to them and ask them for help and clarification, they provide me with resources and advice I can share with the callers.”
Haley communicated with other volunteers and debriefed calls with them virtually, an act that would normally take place in-person at the call centre.
This position also helped Haley learn better coping mechanisms in her own life, and taught her the importance of self-care, especially during the current state of the world.