Workshop and Sessional Streams to Choose From
I am also happy to customize and design sessions to meet your needs.
BUILDING WELLNESS CULTURES
From an organizational perspective
INDUCTION & MENTORSHIP SUPPORT
For mentees and mentors
About Me
Hi! My name is Darlene Loland. I am an experienced teacher with a PhD specializing in mental health and wellbeing and a Master’s degree focussing on environmental education. Thanks for visiting my MEND website – I would love to work with you!
My Aim
MEND Educational Consulting provides professional learning opportunities, wellbeing coaching, and organizational wellness support through six main streams with the goal of embedding mental health and wellbeing in district cultures, priorities and structures to benefit all within the system including leaders, administrators, staff, teachers and students.
Mental Health and Wellbeing – A Brief Explanation
Wellbeing is multifaceted and is viewed wholistically. Linked to it is mental health which is considered:
“a state of wellbeing in which an individual realizes their own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to their community”
— World Health Organization, 2014.
My Views on Health Promotion
A Positive Proactive Approach
I value and encourage inclusion, collaboration, and sharing of evidence-based resources to integrate wellbeing and mental health into your daily plans. Health promotion requires a positive, proactive approach, focusing on individuals AND systems including a range of social and environmental interventions.
Relational and Inclusive Process
My views on health promotion are built upon the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and the World Health Organization (2015), which emphasize the interconnectedness between individuals and their environments, and recognize that wellbeing is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. My work aligns with BC’s Mental Health in Schools (MHiS) Strategy which consists of Compassionate Systems Leadership, Capacity Building, and Mental Health in the Classroom inclusive of Indigenous Perspectives.
“It takes sustained effort, expertise, and long-term planning to successfully grow and embed wellbeing and mental health across a school district. “
— Dedicated Action for School Health in BC, 2019
Greening Our Workplaces
I believe in creating work environments which are stress-reducing and inspiring, and therefore incorporate nature settings as much as possible into my ‘office space.’ Interdisciplinary research studies indicate that doing this correlates with a decrease in stress hormones, depression symptoms, elicits a sense of ‘getting away’, and increases one’s overall sense of wellbeing. I strive to make these settings an option for those who prefer these environments for any of my workshop or sessional streams.
Why MEND in my logo?
The word 'mend' nods to improvement, progress, growth, and repair - to make something whole. MEND also is an acronym related to my PhD research and a reminder that 'Mindfully Experiencing Nature Daily' contributes to wellness in numerous ways.
