How do you keep up staff morale during tough times?
This Thursday we are doing a free webinar on staff morale. It was a panel discussion with three seasoned leaders of organizations. The webinar is free to everyone. Information is at the bottom of the email. We made a one-page handout of the best takeaways. My favorite is at the bottom: “Immediate answers are NOT […]
Blame the Clothes
As a college student, I did laundry as infrequently as I could get away with. Disclaimer: I generally wore clean clothes, but that meant I frequently was down to an empty closet before I headed to the laundromat. I only remember it being a problem once. It was an unseasonably warm spring my sophomore year. […]
“If you don’t do something about Joe, we will!”
Mike didn’t look happy as he worked his way through the crowded shelter dining room heading towards me. Mike had been homeless for several years. I knew him well. I knew the conversation we were about to have wasn’t going to be pleasant. “If you don’t do something about Joe, we will,” Mike hissed at […]
The problem with de-escalation…
De-escalation has one MAJOR problem. The problem is NOT that it doesn’t work. The research is clear that de-escalation works: No, the problem with de-escalation isn’t its effectiveness. The problem is that someone has to go first. In conflict, someone has to go first… and lower their volume. Someone has to go first… and genuinely […]
Homelessness changes time.
“Time Horizon” is the distance into the future that a person plans. For example, if you are 40 years old and you are saving for retirement, you have a time horizon of at least 25 years. Research has discovered many experiences that “shrink” a person’s time horizon: Consider the first item on that list – […]
What is De-Escalation?
I’m working on a 5-minute training on de-escalation for people new to the concept. I thought I would try the concept out on y’all! —– When someone is rude to you or refuses to follow the rules, most people naturally lean towards one of two responses: Take a second and decide which one you naturally […]
A tool for solving drama.
Last week’s email introduced the concept of personality disorders. You can read it here: https://www.homelesstraining.com/people-dont-call-them-mentally-ill-they-call-them-jerks/ This week I want to share a quick tool for managing the drama created by someone suffering from a personality disorder. It comes directly from Dr. Gregory Lester, who is this month’s webinar. If you want to watch my interview […]
“People don’t call them mentally ill. They call them jerks.”
If you don’t understand “personality disorders,” then you don’t understand homelessness. Why? Because 92% of chronically homeless individuals suffer from one or more. And 10-20% of the general population does too! Next week’s webinar is my interview with Gregory Lester, Ph.D. Dr. Lester is a clinical psychologist, and one of the leading experts on personality […]
Christmas Eve in a Homeless Shelter
The following story is from my book “A Homeless Christmas Story.” To see the illustrated version and hear it read by Actor Emilio Estevez, go to https://www.homelesstraining.com/books/a-homeless-christmas-story/ You can also buy a copy there too. (if the URL doesn’t work, please type it into your browser) Winter’s crisp darkness settled over the large, brick homeless […]
Mental Illness and Risk
Our members-only live training this month is a short course on mental illness. We’ll be covering which situations are high risk for violence and which are low risk. Then we’ll discuss what tools to use in low-risk situations. If your organization isn’t a member or you are busy this Thursday, here is a slice of […]
