Learn More About Counseling and Workplace Resilience Services

The Office of Counseling and Workplace Resilience supports the psychological health of the Michigan Medicine community by providing individual, small group, and system-wide interventions and services. We provide confidential, no cost support to all Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, clinical fellows, house officers, and their spouses/partners and young adult dependents. Our psychological care services can address work and career related concerns, as well as issues in one’s personal life.

Counseling and workplace resilience services are provided by licensed healthcare professionals with backgrounds in nursing, clinical social work, counseling, and psychology. Our work is rooted in evidence-based and trauma-informed practices. We focus on building and broadening individuals' awareness, insight, and strengths to achieve meaningful change. This perspective guides every interaction we have with Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, and learners.

Learn More About Services to Help You

Counseling Services

All OCWR team members approach their work with clients through a strengths-based, multicultural, and trauma-informed lens, providing compassionate care to address concerns that are common for humans, educators, researchers, and healthcare workers. The OCWR counselors are each trained in a variety of evidence-based therapies that are uniquely integrated to address your specific concerns.

Counseling Techniques Tailored to Your Needs

To support your psychological health, counselors draw from the following (as well as other interventions): Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Prolonged Exposure for Primary Care (PE-PC), Written Exposure Therapy (WET), short-term psychodynamic therapy, narrative therapy, dual-process model of grief therapy, Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR), American Society for Addiction Medicine (ASAM) Criteria Assessment.

Common Concerns

We’re here to help you address a wide range of concerns and challenges. Some common concerns include:

Depression and anxiety
Feelings of disconnection/loneliness
Anger and irritability
Life stressors and transitions
Personal and family relationship concerns
Trauma, loss, and grief
Substance use; assessment following For Cause and/or Diversion
Work stress and burnout; difficulty disconnecting from work
Moral distress
Perfectionism, procrastination, and motivation
Workplace relationship concerns; interpersonal boundaries
Professional identity
Clinically impactful events (workplace violence, losses, clinical mistakes)

We use a short-term treatment model designed to equip you with supportive strategies and practical skills to build resilience and effectively manage life’s challenges and stressors. We also offer brief supportive conversation appointments and referral resources that can support your overall well-being. We’re here to support you through the big things in life, as well as the daily difficulties. Our services are completely confidential and offered at no charge to you. We look forward to serving you.

Crisis Support, Impactful Event, Workplace Violence Debriefing

The academic medical center environment is demanding and complex. When impactful events happen, our staff is well-equipped to assist you through the challenges of crises and acute stressors. We facilitate emotional support debriefs to effectively and compassionately help leaders and teams navigate distressing events and workplace loss through group support. Call us at 763-5409 for immediate, 24/7 support and resources. We will assess the situation through a leader consultation, develop a course of action, and provide crisis intervention services.

In your role of teaching, research, or clinical care, it’s common to think that you are the only one having a tough time or that you should easily be able to move on with your day - to the next patient, next experiment, next student, or next task. However, facilitated support and reflection with your colleagues can help illuminate that you’re not alone, and that stressful events impact people in different ways.

Common crisis and acute stress topics:

Stressors unique to teaching, research, and clinical care environments
Moral distress within the care team
Secondary trauma
Distressing or impactful clinical outcomes
Workplace violence
Accidents, death, and suicide
Severe illness or mental health crises
Natural disaster or catastrophic events

Work and Career Counseling, Return to Work Transition

"No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Work and Career Counseling

At its best, work can provide a sense of meaning and purpose, rich relationships, and a livelihood. Work can also bring a sense of discontent, dissatisfaction, and challenging relationships. The Office of Counseling and Workplace Resilience provides short-term counseling to faculty, staff, and medical learners on how they can increase their workplace satisfaction and strengthen their relationships with others. Work and career counseling often focuses on (1) increasing self-awareness, (2) developing self-compassion and self-care, and (3) clarifying boundaries and priorities within a work setting.

Moreover, being a helper or a healer requires mindful awareness about one’s own well-being in order to skillfully care for patients. Over time, some healthcare professionals may experience the effects of chronic stress or symptoms of burnout. We can support your psychological health by providing a confidential space to talk about difficult clinical events, empathic distress fatigue, moral distress, and loss, while also helping you to reconnect to the meaning of your work and life satisfaction.

Return to Work Transition

Returning to work after a short- or long-term leave of absence can be difficult. We may feel uneasy about getting back into the swing of things or concerned about changes in our role or modifications to our workload. This can be more challenging if we are managing ongoing physical or mental health concerns, which can make it hard to re-engage as an active member of the team.

Our team can be helpful in this transition, especially if your return is complicated by workplace circumstances (performance issues, interpersonal conflict, or workplace stressors). Our goal is to help support you in your transition back into the workplace through knowledge of Michigan Medicine workplace environments and skillful psychological care.

For more information, visit the Change in Ability to Work website.

Leader Consultation

We're here to help you and your team build skills and enhance resilience in the midst of a dynamic and demanding academic medical center environment. Our team is well-versed in resilience strategies and psychological health practices unique to each education and career stage for our faculty, staff, and medical learners. Further, we can help leaders with developing human-centered leadership skills and perspectives to become a more compassionate leader. Research shows that implementing psychologically healthy practices in the workplace can improve the engagement and well-being of your team.

Additionally, our office can assist leaders with learning how best to compassionately respond to those who may need extra support. It can be difficult to know the right words to say when a team member is struggling. We are available for consultation with leaders—we can answer questions, connect you to resources, and help you understand the various options for creating a culture that is responsive to mental health needs.

Common Concerns for Leader Consultation

Critical Incidents: Responding to violence, trauma, grief or major organizational incidents
Difficult Conversations: Coaching on how to approach and handle challenging discussions with team members
Stress and Burnout: Receiving support for yourself as a leader as you deal with secondary trauma and high-stress situations
Interpersonal and Team Dynamics: Helping leaders to address interpersonal challenges in teams while fostering a healthy, psychologically safe environment
Mental Health Concerns in the Workplace: Addressing mental health issues and their interactions with productivity and professional conduct, along with issues related to substance use and misuse

Key Benefits of Leader Consultation

Skill Building: Develops human-centered leadership skills and language for compassionately managing individual and team challenges
Supportive Safeguards: Proactively addresses workplace issues before they escalate or worsen
Leader Well-Being: Offers a safe and confidential space for leaders to process their own stress related to difficult situations
Information and Resources: Provides practical information about institutional resources, policies, and key partners to support the safety and well-being of faculty, staff, and learners

Please call or email us to schedule a leader consultation today!

(734) 763-5409 or [email protected]

Workplace Resilience Services

OCWR’s approach prioritizes caring for our Michigan Medicine community through increasing awareness, skill-building workshops, consultation, and prevention efforts. Our Nurse Leader for Resilience and Well-Being and our Program Manager for Workplace Resilience and Well-Being are specifically focused on system-level interventions across Michigan Medicine, such as the COMPASS Peer Support Network and Well & Wise at Michigan Medicine, a Stress First Aid initiative for healthcare workers. These roles also provide tailored resilience interventions for teams, units, and departments to address challenges and concerns in your work group, with a focus on recognizing your group’s many skills and talents. To learn more about COMPASS Peer Support Network, email us at [email protected].

Educational Outreach and Programs

The Office of Counseling and Workplace Resilience offers numerous workshops and presentations on topics relevant to Michigan Medicine faculty, staff, and medical learners across the academic medical center. These educational offerings are an efficient way to develop essential skills and perspectives to thrive in one's personal and work life. Our workshops can be scheduled during a staff meeting, included as part of a longer retreat, or can be offered in a series format. Presentations are offered by leader or department request due to the dynamic nature of healthcare schedules and to ensure high participation and engagement. Our approach to education and development is ever-evolving; please visit the link below to view our current learning opportunities.

Department and unit leaders can request customized presentations and workshops to meet your team’s well-being needs.

Well-being Partners

The Office of Counseling and Workplace Resilience is part of U-M Health and Well-Being Services, which includes MHealthy. MHealthy is dedicated to supporting faculty and staff health and well-being on all campuses of the University of Michigan, including Michigan Medicine, through physical activity, nutrition, and risk reduction efforts.

Additionally, we collaborate closely with the Michigan Medicine Office of Well-Being, which focuses on creating system-level processes to improve workforce well-being and advance the seamless provision of healthcare. If your needs extend beyond our office, we can connect you to these partners.

Learn more about the University of Michigan’s overall commitment to well-being through the Well-being Collective.

Confidential Mental Health Screening

U-M partners with Aiberry to provide a fast, easy, and completely anonymous way to check in on your emotional wellness. In just a few minutes, you’ll receive confidential, personalized insights into your mental health, along with helpful resources and clear next steps.

Mental Health Counseling and Consultation Services