Independent Counselling Enterprises

Other Training Available

Independent Counselling Enterprises offers a wide variety of training courses and seminars.

Aboriginal Awareness Training
This day and half work workshop will help you better understand the aboriginal culture. It answers questions and dispels myths about the history of aboriginal people and help you to understand and be knowledgeable about the aboriginal culture. This is an important tool to better provide service to the people you support. This workshop is facilitated by Jerry Wood of Eagle Spirit Cultural Programs Inc., an experienced and informative leader in the aboriginal culture. This training is for everyone: Managers, coordinators, team leaders and our very important field staff.

Alzheimer's and Dementia Training - Supportive Pathways
Program goals: Staff will learn special skills and knowledge that will assist in their care for the person with dementia. Discussion includes how to provide holistic individualized care to the person with dementia in a supportive environment. The goal is that the individual’s quality of life will be optimized. This two day course outline includes: Personal and organizational beliefs, Individualized care, family as partners in care, normal changes of aging, disease process, care for persons with end-stage Dementia, effective communication, normalized living, activities, responding to altered behavior.

Anger Management
Using participant examples, employees work through the 5 stages of the “90 Minute Anger Cycle”. This course also includes discussion and individual/group exercises surrounding: primary feelings i.e. fear, pain, etc., the importance of feedback, having someone to confide in, escapes to avoid anger, coping strategies and communicating wants/needs clearly. The employees are advised to spend time discussing the Course content with the individuals ICE serves to assist them in understanding their own anger.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), and Conduct Disorder (CD)
Through a variety of class discussions, small group exercises and lecture presentations this course provides support workers with a clear understanding of the causes, characteristics, treatment techniques and prognosis of individuals with ADHD, ODD and CD. An emphasis is placed on developing strategies to assist staff in being competent and successful in providing support to these individuals. The goal of the workshop is to improve the knowledge of the support workers and increase the quality of service available to the individuals accessing service through ICE.

Autism Spectrum Disorders
This course explores the various Pervasive Developmental Disorders encompassed by the Autism continuum through lecture, video presentations, and group exercises. Support workers are assisted to maximize opportunities and learning techniques for the individuals that ICE serves. Strategies to deal with behavioral challenges are also discussed with an emphasis on empathy and understanding the challenges of living with this disability.

Client Risk Management
The Client Risk Management workshop intent is to provide agency employees a greater understanding of client risk to ensure provision of safe and consistent quality care. The objectives of the workshop are to increase awareness of issues and challenges impacting the health and well-being of clients, to better equip employees to identify potential hazards/risks, to increase knowledge regarding agency Policy and practice to manage/mitigate client risk/hazards, and to inform employees of the need to continuously review strategies in place to ensure the mitigations in place are successful.

Conflict Management Skills
This half-day workshop is designed to assist employees to gain knowledge and to develop effective skills in dealing with conflict. Participants will learn to identify the common causes or sources of conflict and to understand possible responses to conflict. In addition, participants will be taught to identify ways to prevent conflict in the workplace and to describe conflict management techniques using the guidelines for conflict resolution and the Conflict Management Model.

Connecting the Dots
This workshop is presented as a full day or two half days. You will learn what Community Capacity Building is all about and learn how to help the people we support get connected to their community to lead meaningful, satisfying lives. The following topics will be covered:

The way in which people with disabilities have been or are perceived over history and currently

The changing role of the direct support professional

Review of ethics

Tools and knowledge about how to provide person centered supports.

This training is for everyone. Managers, coordinators, team leaders and our very important field staff.

Crisis Prevention Institute’s Non-violent Physical Crisis Intervention Training
This two-day workshop focuses on intervention techniques for individuals with challenging behaviors. The goal of the course is to teach staff to intervene in a way that provides for the best care, welfare, safety and security to all who are involved in a crisis situation. The course provides a balanced blend of theory combined with practical applications, including staff role-playing “real life” scenarios. Personal safety techniques are taught as well as an introduction to restraints, including how and when to use them. The course includes a review of the agency’s policy on behavior intervention and an introduction to planned responses.

Cultural Appreciation
This is a half day session. The purpose of this course is increase staff knowledge in the following:

To understand the importance of appreciating cultural similarities and differences

To gain an awareness of how understanding cultural differences will contribute to a respectful and more rewarding work environment

To enhance quality service delivery to clients

To learn to effectively accommodate the cultural components of our diversity into our daily interactions with others

Customer Service Workshop
I.C.E. strives to develop and maintain high standards of service delivery based on the following values:

Flexibility

Competitiveness

Integrity

Communication

Dedication

Supportiveness

Through classroom lecture, exercises, and in-depth discussions, this presentation will assist staff at all levels of the organization to maintain the above standards of excellent service delivery in keeping with I.C.E.’s mission and philosophy.
Developmental Stages
Developmental Stages provides an overview of the physical, cognitive and socieomotional growth of children and teens. Through half a day of lecture, group work, discussion and video this class reviews average child development as well as how certain disabilities affect development. The final proportion of this class will provide numerous ideas of how to interact with children and their specific disability.

Documentation and Reporting Practices
The intent of this workshop is to assist support workers in the area of documentation and reporting practices in the field of human services. The course work will concentrate primarily on critical incidents, logbooks, and contact notes.

Through this workshop participants will experience interesting large and small, group discussions, critiquing, and class exercises, resulting in well-developed documentation skills. This revised workshop takes into account the underlying principles of CET standards and any changes in regards to ICE documentation and / or practices that have recently taken place.

Encopresis
This workshop attempts to remove the social stigma often attached to persons dealing with this condition. Focus is on identifying the cause, providing information on current treatment options, and strategies that have proven successful for providing support to persons with Encopresis. This course requires 3-4 hours.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders – FASD
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is a comprehensive look at the causes and behaviors associated with person’s suffering from a form of fetal alcohol. This is an interactive workshop that uses real life examples, placing an emphasis on separating behavioral problems associated with the disorder from the person’s personality. Alternative accommodations explored in depth. This course generally requires 3-4 hours.

Foundations Training (Certificate Course)
The Foundations training program is the revised version of the previous Basic Skills Training program. This program and curriculum was initially a joint effort of the Alberta Council of Disability Services (previously known as the The Alberta Association of Rehabilitation Centres, AARC), and Norquest College. Foundations is now run through ACDS. The new program, Foundations, has been extended from eight months to 12 months, whereby a certificate will be received through ACDL to all successful students who pass the course. The intent of this course is to assist support staff in attaining or upgrading their skills as a support worker. A representative sample of direct service workers and supervisors identified 200 tasks performed by support staff. These competencies were grouped into 3 sections containing 16 modules of study within the curriculum. These modules of study are as follows:

Section 1 – Setting the Stage

Module 1 – The Evolving Field of Community Rehabilitation

Module 2 – Legislation and Human Rights

Module 3 – Values and Belief’s

Module 4 – Roles and Responsibilities

Module 5 – Definitions and Characteristics of Common Disabilities

Section 2 – Getting the Basics

Module 6 – Safety Issues

Module 7 – Ergonomics For Safe Lifting and Transferring

Module 8 – Adaptive Equipment

Module 9 – Universal Precautions and Infection Control

Module 10 – Personal Hygiene Support

Module 11 – Mealtimes and Nutrition

Section 3 – Being Professional

Module 12 – Promoting Wellness

Module 13 – Facilitating Growth and Skill Development

Module 14 – Interpersonal Communication

Module 15 – Professional Communication Skills

Module 16 – Personal/Professional Competence

Participants will attend 3-hour, weekly classes and will enjoy active participation in group discussions and class presentation. In addition, knowledge will be acquired through home study, weekly exercises, and examination testing upon the completion of each module.

The above describes briefly the training opportunities available to all ICE employees and independent contractors.

Lessons in Grief
This workshop covers the step by step process to help support individuals with developmental disabilities to understand death; cope and heal with the loss of someone they loved and cared about.

Positive Behavior Supports (previously known as Restrictive Procedures)
The intent of this workshop is to learn how to address situations &/or behaviors of concern within the parameters of Creating Excellence Together (CET) standards and I.C.E. policies and practices. The underlying principles of this workshop are to focus upon the individual, and to develop positive supports that are unique to the individual’s needs.

Prader-Willie Syndrome
This course explores this rare genetic disorder and, through PowerPoint presentation, lecture, and participant discussion, attempts to understand and provide strategies for support. Strategies to deal with behavioral challenges are also discussed with an emphasis on empathy and understanding the challenges of living with this disability.

Proactive Behavior Intervention
This is a one-day course that examines the interrelationship between clients and staff during a client escalation. Topics for discussion include:

Escalations as a means of communication.

When responding to difficult clients, how do we handle our own emotions?

What are the different stages of an escalation and what techniques can we use to diffuse an individual with challenging behaviors?

When do we think about our own personal safety and well-being?

Through lectures, communication exercises, role-play, and class discussion, an understanding of a mirroring process between staff and client begins to emerge. The course also includes personal safety techniques for diffusing physical escalations.

Promoting Independence Workshop
Purpose: To assist the individuals we support in achieving maximum independence.

The workshop includes fun and interesting teaching strategies to assist in promoting independence and in the process, increase self-esteem. The focus is on teaching individuals who are receiving service the skills they want to learn, thereby improving their quality of life. The agenda includes the following:

Residential Support Worker Role

Rewards of Effective Teaching

Choosing the Skills to Teach

Strategies for Teaching

This training is for everyone. Managers, coordinators, team leaders and our very important field staff.

Promoting Safety
This workshop is a half day session to enhance staff understanding of the Health and Safety Program at ICE. This includes but is not limited to discussions on the importance of identifying hazards, working safely and staff awareness of the Health & Safety responsibilities in the workplace.

Suicide Awareness In-service (external facilitator)
This workshop brings forth some of the contributing factors of depression particular to persons with developmental disabilities. Stages in the cycle of depression are identified as well as the suggested methods of intervention within each stage. The purpose of this workshop is help employees recognize signs and signals associated with depression and/or suicidal behavior, and equip them with the skills to intervene in an appropriate manner.

Understanding Schizophrenia
This workshop explores the various symptoms and challenges that an individual with Schizophrenia may experience as well as effective strategies to provide successful support. Topics include a description of possible symptoms a client could experience, treatment options available and valuable information in how to promote a positive and supportive role. This presentation emphasizes the importance of a clear understanding of this disability through class discussion/exercises, lecture, case study examples, with a brief video presented from the client’s perspective.

The above briefly describes some of the training opportunities available to all ICE employees and independent contractors.

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