Wellness to Employability – Part 1
When we feel well, we are physically able to perform activities that we enjoy as well as those required in our professional life. However, wellness is not limited to our physical condition. It is equally important for us to strive for emotional well-being in addition to physical wellness to live a healthy life. “Wellness to Employability”, the concept that students need to be well in order to gain and sustain employment, therefore, encompasses both of these critical areas.
As mental health professionals and TEAP specialists, we possess the unique ability to influence not only staff and students, but the entire center culture with a focus on wellness to employability. Lets take a look at what we mean by wellness for our Job Corps student. This is a physically and emotionally healthy student who has learned the skills to manage their health and cope with common interpersonal and work related stress situations. This is a student more likely to sustain long-term employment and be successful in the workplace, due to their social skills and overall well being.
When it comes to “Wellness to Employability” on Job Corps centers, emphasis should be placed on student empowerment. Many students come to Job Corps from challenging situations, including poverty and abuse. In turn, these students sometimes experience difficulties adapting to the Job Corps environment. Center staff may feel a need to control these students instead of teaching them skills to empower themselves. It is more helpful to show students that they need to take responsibility for their behaviors and choices.
Job Corps strives to help young people from disadvantaged backgrounds acquire and hone skills that lead to gainful employment. At the completion of Job Corps, graduates will hopefully find jobs that pay more and allow them to sustain a productive, successful, and healthy lifestyle. When a student completes their trade, they must feel an emotional commitment to his/her own vocation in order to succeed at a career. When staff empower students, the student’s emotional commitment is increased. Likewise, when staff teach student’s how to manage their health and allow them the opportunity to practice positive social skills they are assisting students in their quest to become employable.
All this said, we know that empowering students is easier said than done. In dealing with some students, staff may become disheartened. In their frustration, they may become involved in control struggles with the students who act out. In these kinds of situations, communication should focus on sending the message that students are in Job Corps to become employable. Any misbehavior should be described as the student’s “choice”. There should be a system of rewards and consequences (much like the real world of work) that is objective and not reactive. Students and staff would need to have a working understanding of how this system operates so that the choice to cooperate or rebel is clear to all parties. Keep in mind the ultimate goal of the wellness to employability model is to identify any health or psychosocial barriers that may impede a student’s ability to complete the Job Corps program, become employed and be successful in the workplace.
Lastly, it is important that staff model “Wellness to Employability” both behaviorally and emotionally for students. This means that staff should demonstrate the ability to manage their health, the stress of the job, and relationships with other staff. The CMHC and TEAP Specialist can assist the staff with stress inoculation. This can include offering encouragement to exercise and explore recreational pursuits, as well as activities that encourage good mental health. It is important that staff show students that they are comfortable with themselves and can collaborate with students in the pursuit of “Wellness to Employability”!
Empowering students is at the core of wellness to employability. There are many ways to promote the “Wellness to Employability” concept, and therefore, we will be including additional, practical ways that staff and the wellness center can do so in upcoming newsletters.
Authors: Stephen Corey, PhD and Peter Oropeza, PsyD – Regional Mental Health Consultants