Services

Wellbeing workshops and team-building opportunities tailored to you.

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Our signature curricula

Our wellbeing workshops are developed in collaboration with industry experts and informed by the first-hand experiences of folks like you. Whether you’re studying public health, fighting for gender equity, or working as a climate activist, these tools and trainings can help you sustain the mental and emotional effort required to affect positive change.

All of our workshops can be adapted to meet the specific needs and interests of you and your team. For example, Compassionate Interviewing has been customized to reflect compassion’s contextual application for journalists and activists, rather than qualitative researchers. Please contact us for pricing options.

Take a peek at some of our signature wellbeing workshops…

Explore immersive nature therapy.

Team-Building Forest Bathing​

The Japanese practice known as shinrin yoku, or forest bathing, is an evidence-based eco-therapy technique designed to reconnect us with natural environments in a way that promotes physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. BeDo co-founder Daillen Culver is a certified nature therapy practitioner and offers curated team experiences tailored to your organisation’s unique needs. Full- and half-day excursions are available. Get in touch today to plan the perfect, contemplative team-building activity!

Upcoming Events

Plan the perfect retreat.

Wellbeing + Writing Retreats for Academics

Whether you’re finishing a dissertation or co-writing a journal article, the writing process can be taxing and tedious. Step back from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and find the time and space to write productively in a supportive atmosphere. In addition to offering mental wellness workshops, BeDo will work with you and your institution to design and/or facilitate a bespoke wellbeing writing retreat that fits your team size and budget. We can plan the entire retreat or provide bookable extras like yoga, mindfulness sessions, or break-out workshops on topics like time management and preventing burnout. Let us curate the peaceful and productive environment, so you can focus on making a difference.

Compassionate Interviewing

This groundbreaking curriculum was created by BeDo co-founder Daillen Culver in fulfillment of a year-long Applied Compassion Training (ACT) at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion & Altruism Research and Education (CCARE). 

Following the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Define compassion and its relevance to modern research methods
  • Differentiate between compassion and its relatives, including empathy and sympathy
  • Explore an embodied sense of compassion through guided, mindfulness-based exercises
  • Discover practical techniques for embedding compassion in the interview setting
  • Mobilize compassion as an antidote to burnout and vicarious trauma
  • Highlight protective factors and create an action plan for self-monitoring and self-care

Auto-Reflexivity

The process of conducting research takes a physical and psychological toll on researchers. However, impacts and implications for analysis are often left critically unexplored. This interactive workshop explores auto-reflexivity as a methodological practice for processing and documenting the impact of data collection on the researcher. Participants will learn about and discuss the ways in which emotionally demanding topics and/or field sites may affect researcher wellbeing, and collaboratively design auto-reflexivity strategies for individual research projects. 

Following the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Define auto-reflexivity and how it can enhance research processes and outcomes
  • Differentiate between positionality, reflexivity, and auto-reflexivity
  • Develop emotional vocabulary to enhance cognitive and embodied understandings of the researcher experience
  • Identify the connection between researcher experience and research outcomes
  • Cultivate mindful self-awareness to deepen auto-reflexive practice
  • Describe the emotional impact of data collection on their own research

Trauma-Informed Methods

This workshop will be of particular interest to professionals working with sensitive subjects and/or potentially traumatized populations, however we strongly believe that the content is relevant for all.

We will review definitions of individual and collective trauma, emphasizing its ubiquity and the importance of trauma sensitivity in impact-driven work. Participants will practice responding to signals of distress in others and themselves, plus develop an action plan for their unique field site. We will discuss the risks of vicarious trauma for impact-driven professionals, and explore self-care strategies for prevention.

Following the workshop, participants will be able to: 

  • Define various types of trauma and learn to recognize signs of distress
  • Explore risk factors and preventative factors to mitigate harm to self and others
  • Discuss the cultural nuances of applying trauma-informed methodologies
  • Examine physiological, behavioral, emotional, and existential symptoms of vicarious trauma and strategies for prevention

Climate Psychology + Resilience

Whether you’re working on renewable energy or passionate about water security, chances are you’ve felt the mental and emotional effects of working on climate-related issues. This workshop is designed for impact-driven professionals working on issues related to environment, renewable energy, natural disaster relief, and/or other forms of sustainable development. However, content will be relevant to all who have experienced or anticipate experiencing mental health challenges associated with climate change.

We will explore common psychological responses to the realities of a changing climate. We aim to acknowledge and validate the many, often contradictory emotional responses and offer applied techniques for coping with climate insecurity. Through guided reflections and group discussions, we’ll explore strategies for resilience that are rooted in mindfulness, compassion, and an ethos of interconnectedness. Participants will come away with a better understanding of climate-related mental health challenges, concrete tools for enhancing researcher resilience, and a collection of resources for further exploration.

Following the workshop, participants will be able to: 

  • Recognize and validate diverse psychological responses to climate change and ecological precarity
  • Discuss the relationship between social and environmental justice
    Identify aggravating factors and practice navigating triggers
  • Identify the advantages and shortcomings ‘resilience’ narratives
  • Discover techniques for restoring agency and a sense of efficacy
  • Practice cultivating compassion and self-compassion while working towards innovative climate solutions