Did you know that your Homewood Health Employee and Family Assistance Program offers more than just counselling? Connect with a Life Smart coach for support with three main themes:
- Life Balance Solutions
- Health Smart Coaching Services
- Career Smart Coaching Services
Key topics for which you can access coaching include:
- Childcare and Parenting, New Parent Support
- Elder and Family Care
- Financial Consultation
- Legal Advisory
- Relationship Solutions
- Grief and Loss Support
- Smoking Cessation
- Career Coaching
- Workplace Issue Counselling
- Pre-Retirement Planning
- Weight Loss and Weight Management
- Nutritional Counselling
Explore all six well-being dimensions on VIU’s Wellness Wheel and create an action plan to enhance your overall well-being. Questions? Email Benefits@viu.ca or call -800-663-1142, available 24/7.
Nutritional Coaching by Homewood Health
Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures. It's also an area in life where we can get into trouble if we aren't careful.
Working with a nutritional coach can help you sort through the conflicting information that's out there and develop a dietary plan that works for you. Whether you want to boost your energy levels, eat a more heart-healthy diet, reach weight loss goals, or address special dietary needs, Homewood Health offers tailored support under Life Smart Coaching.
Call 1-800-663-1142 for confidential, customized coaching.
External Counselling Resources
Wellness Together Canada - 24/7. Tel: 1-866-585-0445.Counselling, resources, peer support, assessments
BounceBack BC – Free skill-building program designed to help adults and youth 13+ manage low mood, mild to moderate depression, anxiety, stress or worry. Delivered online or over the phone with a coach, you will get access to tools that will support you on your path to mental wellness.
Local In-Person: Brooks Landing Walk-in Counselling Clinic M-F 10am - 6:15 pm; 203-2000 Island Highway North, 250-739-5710
Immediate: In a crisis or need support right now? Vancouver Island Crisis Line is available 24/7: 1-888-494-3888
At Here-to-Help you will find quality information, learn new skills, and connect with key resources in BC. Explore strategies to help you take care of your mental health and use substances in healthier ways, find the information you need to manage mental health and substance use problems, and learn how you can support a loved one.
Burnout and Stress Solutions
Stress is a natural reaction to any change where an adjustment or response is required. Stress may result when your personal or work-related demands exceed the perceived internal and external resources required to satisfy the need. Stress may also occur when events or demands in your life stretch you to new levels of functioning.
Stress is not always bad. Stress is an important reaction that protects you from danger. When experiencing stress, your body releases the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones increase your blood pressure and heart rate and provide you with the energy needed to fight or flee from a crisis scenario. Without adequate stress in your life, you are likely to feel less motivated, and unenthused. In contrast, having too much stress can result in physical, mental, and emotional issues and make you feel anxious and pressured. Understanding what stress is, and observing your own symptoms, can help prevent you from exceeding your limits which could lead to exhaustion and burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.
Somewhere between these extremes, in a place between too little stress and too much stress, is just the right amount of stress that is healthy, motivating, and stimulating. That’s the level of stress you can achieve when you learn stress management strategies.
One call is all it takes to get started.
The Burnout and Stress Solutions program supports you with the skills and techniques to help you identify, manage and control burnout and stress. We make it simple to get started and guide you step-by-step. When you call our Client Services Centre, here’s what you can expect:
- We ask a few questions to make sure you receive the customized service that will be most helpful.
- We arrange for one of our clinicians to call and walk you through the types of support and resources that you could benefit from including written materials and internet resources personalized for you.
- We also have a section dedicated to burnout, to help you in the identification of:
- The factors that can contribute to burnout
- An action plan for preventing burnout
- How to get through it
- Self-care tips and exercises
- We’ll be in touch with you while you’re using the materials, and we will help you to build strategies to control and reduce burnout and stress as needed.
Life Smart Coaching services are offered over the telephone. If you ever feel uncertain or overwhelmed, about any issue, we can also arrange counselling. Counselling services can be offered face-to-face, over the phone, through video, or online.