Self Care Plus: Building on What You Know

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You already know self-care matters. The hard part is doing it in the middle of a packed clinic day, and letting go of the day once you leave. This interactive session goes past the basics and focuses on what works in real healthcare settings. Participants will do a quick, private check-in on how stress is showing up in their bodies, thoughts, relationships, and work. They’ll then practice a set of discreet tools that take five minutes or less and can be used between patients, after a hard encounter, or in the car before heading home. The session also covers why your body can stay “on” after a shift ends and how to complete the stress cycle. Everyone leaves with a simple, personalized plan that builds new habits onto routines they already have.

Attendees will:

• Assess their current stress level across four domains (body, mind, heart, and work) using the Stress Continuum and Window of Tolerance, and recognize whether patterns are improving, holding steady, or getting worse.
• Identify at least three evidence-informed regulation tools that take five minutes or less, matched to their state in the moment (activated, shut down, ruminating, or isolated), and name a specific workday moment when they’ll use one.
• Develop a personal “Making It Stick” plan that includes one in-the-moment tool, one end-of-shift practice to complete the stress cycle, and one concrete request of their supervisor or team.

Speaker: Hillary Colcord, MSW
Hillary Colcord is the Chief of Culture at MPCA, where she focuses on organizational culture and wellness, as well as member-facing presentations on workplace safety and staff resilience. Hillary has been with MPCA since 2019 and brings extensive experience working in low-barrier settings with people experiencing chronic homelessness, providing front-line services as well as developing programs and strategies to support staff in meeting complex community needs. Hillary holds a B.A. in Sociology from Suffolk University, and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of New England.

Target audience
Frontline clinical staff: medical assistants, nurses, providers, and dental teams in fast-paced patient care.
Behavioral health and SUD staff: clinicians, care managers, and peer recovery staff with high trauma exposure.
Patient-facing support roles: front desk and patient services staff, community health workers, enabling services staff, and patient navigators.
Supervisors and team leads: people managing their own stress while supporting their teams, especially after turnover or staffing shortages.

For more information, contact Ashley Cleary: acleary@mepca.org.