“Collecting Joy” Workshop October 25 Aims to Help Social Workers Find, Rebuild Their Happiness

Recently, Chris McLaughlin, MSW, LCSW, realized he “felt like joy had escaped me, like things were moving so fast that I had almost gotten joy-blind and needed to do some work internally on how I … could become more intentional about those moments of joy and start to collect them. Through that process, I realized I was far from the only one who could use these kinds of conversations and reminders, and the course developed from there.”

McLaughlin will share his research and tips October 25 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. ET in a new NASWVA and Metro DC training titled “Collecting Joy: Fueling Hope and Resilience” (1.5CEs). Registration ends October 23.

“We'll talk about joy chemicals. We'll talk about the physiological impacts of feeling joy and sustaining joy, and conversely, we'll talk about the physical and physiological impacts of what happens in the absence of joy,” he said, adding that finding the science behind the mental health aspects of joy and happiness creation was the most challenging but interesting aspect of developing the course.

“Joy is absolutely something that we can form habits around. This course is intended to get folks thinking and introspective around the elements of joy--talking about it and dissecting it in a way that we typically don't do in our day-to-day conversations,” McLaughlin continued.

“And through that conversation, we'll start identifying where there are times that we can practice intentionality, both with ourselves and when encouraging those in our lives, whether they are professional or personal relationships. My hope is that … some insights might develop around how we might start building habits that force us over time to find this to easier and easier to do.”