healthy & well
AT LBNL

Welcome


Healthy & Well at LBNL is a centralized location for Lab staff to find support and resources to help build their health, wellness and well-being. The website is intended to get you thinking about the things you can do to foster health and wellness in your life - both at work and at home. In each section you’ll find a collection of resources from the Lab, UC Berkeley and the community that touch on different aspects of health and wellness.

Why does it matter?

You know the safety advice when flying “Secure your own oxygen mask before helping others”? The same goes for health and wellness – caring for ourselves is an integral part in caring for our families, friends and loved ones. Caring for ourselves gives us the capacity to better handle stressful or demanding situations both at home and work.

The site is a collaborative effort between Health Services, Human Resources and the IDEA Office to support the health and wellness of Berkeley Lab employees and their families. Questions? Please email us at IDEA@lbl.gov.

September resources 

September is Flu Awareness Month
This fall spread love and not the flu. Get more information about the flu and the flu vaccine with this PDF from Health Services. And look for announcements about flu shots at the clinic this fall. 

Work/life balance
You’re back from your vacation, school is in session and life is once again in full swing - how do you find the right balance between work and the rest of your life? Check out the Molecular Foundry’s Community Agreement on Work Life Balance for a few suggestions. You can use it for yourself or bring it to your team to start a discussion on the topic. If you want to learn more about how and why they developed it, check out the IDEAs-in-Action Case Study about their efforts. 

If you need a spark of inspiration for self-care, the Healthy & Well website always offers suggestions for getting outside, exercise, mindfulness, and ways to create community at the Lab. 

Maybe you need someone who can support you - did you know that Kaiers and HealthNet insurance plans come with wellness coaches? You can get one-on-one guidance and support from a dedicated wellness coach who can help you set goals and stick to them. For questions about other health plans, please contact our Health Care Facilitator

Event highlights

Kaiser Permanente will be hosting a “Emotional Well Being “ webinar series for all UC Employees. We can all benefit from taking some time to renew our mind, care for our body, and lift our spirit. In this series, we will learn many ways to care for ourselves physically and emotionally. These webinars are open for all lab employees even if you're not a Kaiser member.

Eating Mindfully - 12 - 1PM PST

Mindful Eating is an approach to weight management by mindfully assessing your behaviors and emotions with food.

Building Healthy Meals - 12 - 1PM PST

Learn ways to create healthy seasonal meals. We will talk staples to keep on hand and meal prepping tools. 

Plant-Based Eating - 12 - 1PM PST

Learning to make plant-based food the central part of your meals.

Be Well at Work Fall 2023 Workshops and Training

To register, please click on the workshop titles or individual dates. 

Monthly BIPOC Support Group

Every 2nd Tuesday of the Month, 12 - 12:50 pm

Facilitated by Kiran Johl, LCSW. Employee Assistance Counselor

First group meets on Tuesday, October 10th at noon

This virtual space is for Black, Indigenous, and staff and faculty of Color to join together in community for discussion, support, and encouragement. Topics such as challenges and successes of working at UC Berkeley, intersection of identities, current events, and fostering one’s mental and physical health will be explored.

Email kpatchell@berkeley.edu for registration and zoom link.

Handling Work Stress and Avoiding Burnout

Date: Thursday, November 2nd, 2023

Time: Noon - 12:50 pm PST

Join on Zoom

Add it to your calendar


Please join us on Thursday, November 2nd, for a lunch time workshop just for Berkeley Lab brought to us from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).


Handling Work Stress and Avoiding Burnout

Unhealthy work-stress can lead to reduced levels of productivity and performance and negatively impact our lives outside of work. Alternatively, stress managed well can help us create a healthy relationship with work that can strengthen our careers and positively impact our personal lives. This workshop will provide information on stress and burnout and introduce effective strategies to manage our work-stress including; boundary setting, focus strategies, and ways to build community at work. 


About the Speaker:

Elliott DiTusa is one of the Employee Assistance counselors for LBNL staff and postdocs. Elliott is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with 9 years of experience working in various Employee Assistance models. His work experience also includes providing individual and couples counseling at a group psychotherapy practice. Elliott received his BS in Secondary Education from Indiana University and his MA in Counseling with a specialization in Sport and Health Psychology from Adler University. Elliott enjoys serving all members of the LBL community, and has a special interest in working with those experiencing career stress/pressure, and work/life balance challenges

Wellness calendar

Interested in adding the Healthy & Well at LBL events to your calendar? Just click on the blue + sign in the lower right hand corner of the calendar below and you'll be able to view our events from your Google calendar.