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.
October resources
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer.Be Well at Work Fall Workshops: Check out the list of 10 upcoming webinars and workshops on everything from elder care with siblings to finacial saving goals to understanding anxiety.
Ergo Angle: Take Time to S T R E T C H
Sometimes we all need to remember to take a break and stretch our bodies during the workday…Benefits Corner: October is the start of this year’s Open Enrollment period: Oct. 27 - Nov. 18th. Take a look at the open enrollment website for more information.
Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace - Oct. 13th, 12 noon
Good Reads:
Guided Meditation: Six Minutes to Connect with Your Body - Dedicating a little time to tune into your body fortifies you to better handle the stresses of daily life.
Event highlights
Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
Thursday, October 13th, Noon - 12:50 pm (add it to your calendar)
Join us on Zoom
Please join us on Thursday, October 13th for a lunch time workshop just for Berkeley Lab brought to us from the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
Understanding and managing our emotions can increase our sense of well-being, motivation, empathy and ability to relate to others in a healthy way. This workshop will examine what it means to be emotionally intelligent and how to apply key concepts to create a more successful and fulfilling work/life experience.
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
What is the Employee Assistance Program? The Employee Assistance Program provides no cost confidential counseling and referral for Berkeley Lab employees. The program is available to employees, and their families and dependents. The services are completely voluntary and there is no fee for services.
All Be Well at Work events require advance registration. Please click on the link in the event title to register.
Thursday, September 29th, Noon - 12:50 pm via Zoom
Speaker: Julie Resnik, LCSW, Employee Assistance Counselor
Healthy boundaries in the workplace are essential to support our mental health and maintain job satisfaction. This workshop provides information about different types of boundaries, how to handle boundary challenges, and how to comfortably say “no”. We will introduce strategies to help participants establish healthy boundaries and improve work-life balance.
Thursday, October 6th
Noon - 1:30 pm
In this workshop, participants will explore the communication challenges adult children are facing when sharing caregiving duties for their aging loved ones. How can they overcome their differences and get on the same page across generations? Through presentation and participatory exercises, Katharina Dress will share different tools that can help prevent, manage and resolve conflicts on the Elder Care journey.
About the Speaker:
KATHARINA W. DRESS, MA, founder of Aging in Harmony, helps older adults, their families and aging services providers navigate challenging communications about Elder Care and Estate Planning issues – throughout the Bay Area and beyond, in person or online. A Mediator since 2005, she has a Master’s degree in Communications and extensive training in Elder Mediation, Forgiveness, Compassionate Communication and Conflict Coaching.
Wednesday, October 12th, Noon - 12:50 pm
Speaker: Laura Crymble, Fidelity
This workshop offers effective tips and strategies to help you save for the things that are important to you, such as building an emergency fund, paying off student loans, buying a home, saving for retirement, and more.
Tuesday, October 18th, Noon - 12:50 pm
Speakers: Karen Patchell, MA., Elliott DiTusa, LPCC., Mary Kelly, MS, Greg Ryan
The transition back to work after baby bonding for both birth and non-birth parents can feel overwhelming under regular circumstances. During a pandemic, with remote work for many, it comes with even more challenges, and some opportunities. It can be filled with a vast array of emotions, concerns, and limitations, not to mention demanding and conflicting schedules.
Join us for this virtual panel workshop focused on understanding both positive and negative emotions related to this transition, how to establish boundaries at work, benefits and accommodations available to working parents, ergonomic strategies for multiple workstations, and self-care resources to help ease the physical and mental pressure associated with working while caregiving for a young child.
Tuesday, October 25th, Noon - 12:50 pm
Speaker: Kenneth Leung, Millar Financials
With so many different headline news, like Russia invasion, high inflation, supply chain issues, there are many uncertainties in the future. You have saved money for your retirement and for the unpredictable, but do you know how your money is working for you? Do you understand the stocks, bonds, and mutual funds that are hotly discussed all over the investment news? Join us for this workshop which will identify and discuss first steps to gaining basic knowledge of your investments.
Thursday, October 27th, Noon - 12:50 pm via Zoom
Speaker: Kiran Johl, LCSW, Employee Assistance Counselor
Many of us have heard or said the phrase “I am an anxious person.” As awareness about anxiety-related disorders increases, so do misconceptions about diagnoses, symptoms, and treatments. This workshop offers education about varying ways that anxiety can manifest, differences between anxiety and other diagnoses, and evidence-based treatments for managing symptoms. This workshop is appropriate for individuals supporting others with anxiety, and those exploring their own experiences with anxiety.
Wednesday, November 2nd, Noon - 12:50 pm
Speaker: Amy Kelly, MFY, The Children's Institute
Have you ever felt like your ex-partner is not on your team when it comes to your children? Do you feel annoyed that you are forced to continue a relationship with the person who you decided to separate from because of your children? This workshop will provide concrete tools on how to communicate differently with your ex while you both stay grounded and centered. It will help you make changes that are empirically evidenced to ultimately benefit your children. Run by the founder of The Children’s Institute, a multi location counseling center, Amy Kelly brings expertise and insight working with diverse and unique needs of children and families throughout Northern California.
Thursday, November 3rd, Noon - 12:50 pm via Zoom
Speaker: Elliott DiTusa, LPCC, Employee Assistance Counselor
According to the CDC, nearly a third of US adults report that they get less than the recommended amount of sleep. A large majority can also experience difficulty falling and staying asleep. A lack of quality sleep can negatively impact our physical and emotional wellbeing, as well as our work performance. In this workshop, we will learn the importance of sleep and discuss how to take action and implement effective strategies and healthy sleep practices.
Thursday, November 17th, Noon - 12:50 pm via Zoom
Speaker: Michelle Ayazi
Join us for a relaxing and reenergizing guided meditation. This session will offer guided mind relaxation, deep breathing, slow movement meditation, deep body relaxation, visualization, and heart-focused meditation. No prior experience with meditation is necessary.
Tuesday, December 6th, Noon - 12:50 pm
Speaker: Laura Crymble, Fidelity
This workshop can help you learn how to determine when retirement is feasible based on projected savings and expected financial challenges in retirement. It also covers estimating how long savings may last with a solid retirement income plan. We will also learn how to develop a retirement income plan that tracks income and expenses through retirement.