Designed and delivered by academics for academics, our evidence-based mental health literacy and skills training programs are the foundational tools we use to cut through high levels of skepticism, separate fact from fiction, and encourage critical conversations that have remained unspoken for far too long. Each low-cost, full-service, community-tailored program is delivered by one of our trained Dragonfly Ambassadors, all of whom are academics themselves from across the globe. Together, our peer-to-peer delivery and our evidenced-based programming consistently increased awareness, interest, and readiness for deeper culture change within communities. In addition, we also offer need-based discounts for eligible virtual programs; however, in-person programs must be paid in full, inclusive of travel & accommodation.
Take your first step on the path towards improved mental health literacy and the development of supportive skills today!
Catalogue
Low Cost
Mental Health Literacy Talks
There are many misconceptions about psychiatric disease, what causes it, who is at risk, and how it manifests. Increasingly we are understanding how immense a problem this is within academia. Objective mental health knowledge of the audience is assessed before and after the seminar and additional open ended questions are used to facilitate discussion and provide community specific insight on how to further improve mental health.
This service includes information about the prevalence of mental health illness in general and academic populations, an overview of signs and symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings, and the science underlying the causes and treatments of mental illnesses.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar
- 45 minute lecture
- 15 minute small or large group facilitated discussion
- Oriented towards academics at all levels
- Brief introduction to common mental illnesses and touches on specific examples how they may manifest in academia
- Pre- and post-talk surveys:
- Evaluate attendees' knowledge and perceptions of mental health prevalence, impact, and barriers within their community
- Facilitate discussion
- Provide community specific insight for future mental health needs and assessment strategies
- Customizable
Click here to see an example talk!
In the times of a global pandemic, it can be challenging to maintain your mental health. “Mental Health in Isolation” is a 60-minute talk and facilitated discussion that explains how our body and mind function during this global disease outbreak and subsequent isolation, pinpoints the main areas of everyday life which are affected by the pandemic, and provides suggestions, tips and tricks to gain the feeling of stability and sanity.
This service includes customization to tailor the workshop to the specific needs of the client. A pre-talk meeting with key stake holders ensures that the content of the talk and the production of take-home resources are maximally relevant to the audience. In addition, we utilize the pre-talk meeting to familiarize ourselves with the available local resources on campus in order to promote them during the talk. While we recommend the full 60-minute talk, we can also offer a reduced 30-minute talk covering the main topics in a lecture-only format.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar
- 40 minute lecture
- 20 minute small or large group facilitated discussion
- Pre-talk meeting with key stakeholders to:
- Customize the content of the talk
- Produce take-home resources that are maximally relevant to the audience
- Familiarize us with the available local resources on campus in order to promote them
- Orientated towards PhD students and Postdocs
- Discussion of the mind-body experience in isolation
- An overview of chronic stress impact
- Evaluation of anxiety triggers
- Suggestions on managing stress stimuli
- Discussion on regaining stability
- Advice and tips on what to do to maintain a healthy mindset
Click here to see an example talk!
The most common mental illness is depression, yet there are many misconceptions about this illness: what causes it, who is at risk, and how it manifests. Those with high IQ and higher educational attainment are at particularly high risk of developing depression but also less likely to seek treatment largely due to stigma. “A Scientist’s Primer on Depression” is a 1-hour seminar and facilitated discussion which delivers the basics on depression at a biological level that academics will appreciate. This talk is particularly well suited for academics in the biological sciences.
Each seminar includes an optional customized survey and analysis of attendees’ objective knowledge and perceptions on depression prevalence, impact, and barriers in their community which is used to facilitate discussion and provide community specific insights for future mental health needs assessment and strategies.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar
- 35 minute lecture
- 25 minute small or large group facilitated discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Prevalence of depression in general and academic populations
- Overview of signs and symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings
- Science underlying the causes and treatments of depression
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Pre and post talk survey to:
- Evaluate attendees' knowledge and perceptions on mental health prevalence, impact, and barriers within their community
- Facilitate discussion
- Provide community specific insight for future mental health needs and assessment strategies
- Customizable
Imposter phenomenon, or the feeling that you don’t truly belong, is very common among academics. The presence of imposter phenomenon is not at all linked to one’s academic achievement record or the amount of effort put into science. A positive assessment of one’s achievements is only a temporary fix to relieve the anxiety imposter phenomenon can cause. The danger of impostor phenomenon, as in any other neurosis, is that it reduces one’s quality of life. Imposter phenomenon robs us of the joys life has to offer, in both everyday life and in the pursuit of knowledge.
In this seminar, we cover the definition of impostor phenomenon and its prevalence in the academic population. We provide an overview of symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings, and we facilitate community discussion on how to overcome impostor phenomenon in our individual lives.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar and discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Definition of impostor phenomenon
- Prevalence of impostor phenomenon in the academic population
- An overview of symptoms highlighting those seen in academic settings
- Discussion on how to overcome impostor phenomenon
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Customizable
Click here to see an example talk!
When does situational or occupational stress become detrimental? What is the difference between Burnout and Depression? Basics of Burnout is a 1-hour seminar and facilitated discussion which defines the core components of Burnout, presents evidence based strategies to treat the symptoms, and discusses how to prevent work-related stress.
In this seminar, we cover the prevalence and impact of burnout in academic and employee populations. We provide an overview of the burnout cycle and how to break it, and we emphasize which factors contribute to burnout and how academics can address them.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar and discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Prevalence and impact of burnout in the academic populations
- An overview of the burnout cycle and how to break it
- Discussion of factors that contribute to burnout and how to address them
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Pre and post talk survey to:
- Evaluate attendees' knowledge and perceptions on mental health prevalence, impact, and barriers within their community
- Facilitate discussion
- Provide community specific insight for future mental health needs and assessment strategies
- Customizable
Click here to see an example talk!
Burnout is a work-related stress-induced syndrome that benefits tremendously from intuitional and supervisor support. The “Burnout: Practical Tools for Supervisors” is a specialized 1-hour seminar and facilitated discussion which briefly reviews the basics of burnout, presents evidence-based strategies that supervisors can employ to help their team address the symptoms, and discusses how to prevent and mediate work-related stress.
In this seminar, we cover the prevalence and impact of burnout in academic and employee populations. We provide an overview of the burnout cycle and how to break it, and we emphasize which factors contribute to burnout and how academics can address them.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar and discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Review of the basics of burnout
- Intentional Culture Building
- Encouraging restorative breaks and vacation
- Active Listening
- Self-education on diverse experience
- Advocating and follow up
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Pre and post talk survey to:
- Evaluate attendees' knowledge and perceptions on mental health prevalence, impact, and barriers within their community
- Facilitate discussion
- Provide community specific insight for future mental health needs and assessment strategies
- Customizable
The high interdependency between supervisor and supervised, combined with the pressure to succeed, make power abuse commonplace in Academia. "Power Abuse in Academia- what can we do?" is a 90-minute seminar and facilitated discussion which includes definitions and examples and goes deeper. It offers insights and encourages discussion on why this is so common and what can be done by early career researchers to drive change in their own communities.
In this seminar, we cover the definition, prevalence, and consequences of power abuse in academia. In addition, provide an overview of what victims can do and emphasize specific actions to drive positive change within a group or institution.
About this Seminar:
- 90 minute seminar and discussion (45 min each)
- Topics discussed:
- Definition, prevalence, and consequences of power abuse in academia
- What can victims do?
- Specific actions that can be taken to drive change
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Pre and post talk survey to:
- Evaluate attendees' knowledge and perceptions on mental health prevalence, impact, and barriers within their community
- Facilitate discussion
- Provide community specific insight for future mental health needs and assessment strategies
- Customizable
Many potential mentors and mentees believe that mentoring is solely about the mentor providing advice about the mentee’s professional development. High quality relational mentoring has the potential to be bidirectional (enhancing the development of both the mentor and mentee) and transformational (impacting how the mentor and mentee think about not just their current job, but their careers, their vocations, and their lives). "Mentoring as a Two-Way Street" is a 60-minute seminar and facilitated discussion which includes a description of high quality mentoring and all the ways it has the potential to be a two-way street.
In addition, in this seminar we cover approaches to maximize the probability of a high quality relationship, as well as offers insights and encourage discussion on what steps can be taken to operationalize mentoring relationships.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar and discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Description of high quality mentoring
- The potential for mentoring to be a two-way street
- Approaches to maximizing the probability of a high quality relationship
- Specific steps in operationalizing mentoring relationships
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Pre-discussion meeting:
- To ascertain the community view and understanding of mentoring, and to set the starting point for discussion
- This will also allow for appropriate configuration of what is emphasized and what is touched on briefly
- As well as define the structure of the Q&A session at the conclusion of discussion
- Customizable
Immigration is defined as the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country, a course many academics take during the course of their careers. Utilizing peer reviewed publications, as well as the experiences of Dragonfly Mental Health volunteers, this talk was developed by immigrants for immigrants and is an excellent opportunity for the people in immigrants' lives to gain a better understanding of the difficulties they face in academia. "Mental Health and Academia-Related Immigration" is a 60-minute seminar and facilitated discussion which aims to promote greater understanding and compassion of the unique challenges immigrants face, and provide context and solutions for both immigrants and the people in their lives.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar and discussion
- Topics discussed:
- Definition of immigration
- Prevalence of immigration in academia
- An overview of the phases of cultural adjustment
- Academia-related immigration specifics
- What to do to improve your life as an immigrant
- Expert led facilitated discussion
- Customizable
Misconceptions about neurodiversity are widespread, leading to a lack of understanding about what causes it, who is at risk, and how it manifests. Increasingly, this is being recognized as a significant challenge within academia and our seminar aims to address these misunderstandings as well as equip academics with the knowledge needed to foster an inclusive academic environment.
"Neurodiversity in Academia" is a 60-minute seminar and facilitated discussion that includes information about the prevalence of neurodiversity in both general and academic populations, an overview of neurodiversity-related signs and symptoms often observed in academic settings, and potential solutions to support for neurodiverse individuals within academia.
About this Seminar:
- 60 minute seminar
- 45 minute lecture
- 15 minute small or large group facilitated discussion
- Oriented towards academics at all levels
- Brief introduction to neurodiversity and touches on specific examples how they may manifest in academia
- Overview of particular types of neurodiversity
- Solutions to support neurodiverse scientists
- Customizable
Skills Training Workshops
Students, trainees, and team members want to have frank conversations with their mentors and team leaders but are not empowered to initiate them. Faculty and team leaders care about their trainees and team but worry that they may say the wrong thing, will exacerbate the situation, or risk being invasive.
This workshop includes an orientation on setting boundaries, an overview of active listening skills, a review of resources, and the delivery of bespoke handouts and quick guide materials. In addition, a pre- and post-workshop meeting is included to tailor the workshop to your needs and to provide community specific insights for future mental health needs and strategies. Subjectively reported differences between participant preparedness to recognize, speak with, and refer team members who may be struggling with mental health issues will also be assessed.
What it Includes:
- 2 hour workshop
- Overview of:
- The scope of common mental health issues in academia
- Boundary setting
- Active listening skills
- Review of resources
- Teaches supportive communication
- Emphasizes the importance of work-life balance, including modeling such behavior
- Includes development and delivery of bespoke handouts and quick guide materials
- Pre and post workshop meetings:
- Tailor event to your needs
- Provide community specific insights and strategies
- Customizable
Supervisors want their students to succeed. Unfortunately, many supervisors have been submerged in the overworking culture of academia which dismisses mental health and wellness as a priority. Therefore their perception of what it takes to succeed in academia is likely biased toward working non-stop and without boundaries, and they might expect or encourage their students to do the same. These expectations may not be explicitly stated but are evident in the way a supervisor works with their students. Fortunately, graduate students can take meaningful steps to care for their own mental health and wellness by “managing upward”.
Managing upward refers to creating a good and productive working relationship with your boss, to your mutual benefit. In business, this term is often used when discussing how to be a better employee. In academia, managing upward is a skill that graduate students can apply in their relationship with their supervisor, in order to support their health and wellness while maintaining a good supervisory relationship.
This workshop is based on the principles laid out by Dr. Christiane Whitehouse in her 2020 blog post for Voices of Academia. Co-developed with Dragonfly Mental Health, this workshop delivers immediately usable skills that can be applied to improve communication and expectations between graduate students and their supervisors.
What it Includes:
- 2 hour workshop
- Overview of:
- The importance of the supervisor/trainee relationship for mental health in academia
- Common supervisor/trainee relationship issues (i.e. micromanaging vs absentee advisor)
- Setting expectations and boundaries
- Managing upward skills including establishing reasonable timelines, optimizing time spent with advisor, renegotiating agreements when things change, mutual accountability
- What to do when communication fails
- Includes bespoke handouts and quick guide materials
- Pre and post workshop meetings to:
- Tailor event to your community's needs
- Provide community specific insights and strategies
- Customizable
Click here to see an example workshop!
Students, trainees, and team members want to be less affected by the demands, criticisms, expectations, and pressure from their supervisors and the academic environment in general. Dragonfly Mental Health's "Managing Inwards: Staying calm and confident within student-supervisor communication" is a two-hour, interactive workshop. It will introduce you to tried and true strategies and techniques such as internal reflection and management which will improve student-supervisor communication. Practice sessions in pairs or small groups will help you integrate these skills and make them immediately usable in the real world.
What it Includes:
- 2 hour workshop
- Overview of:
- Introduction to managing inwards
- Communication dynamics
- Identifying personal triggers in communication
- Evaluating limiting self-beliefs
- Dealing with tough communication
- Step-by-step roadmap for managing inwards
- Includes bespoke handouts and quick guide materials
- Pre and post workshop meetings to:
- Tailor event to your community's needs
- Provide community specific insights and strategies
- Customizable
Our shared human experience during and following the pandemic has brought discussions about wellbeing to the forefront. This, in turn, has led to the introduction of new and unfamiliar considerations and accommodations in academic workplaces that attempt to address these concerns. We have found, that while these interventions help reduce the impact of work-related stress on the workforce, personal wellbeing goes far beyond the workshops we attend, the videos we watch, or any reading/viewing of content produced by social media wellness advocates. It begins within each of us, with reflection and a reminder that if we take care of ourselves, we can better care for others who depend on us.
In this 90-minute interactive session, we will discuss the effectiveness of these new intervention, explore and reflect on the gaps in that framework, and learn practical tools to create our own foundation of well-being and sustain it with intentional actionable steps to operationalize self-care.
What it Includes:
- 90-minutes workshop
- Overview of:
- Discussion of well-being
- Intentional actions to create foundational well-being
- Relationship between mental and physical health
- Operationalizing self-care
- Pre and post workshop meetings to:
- Tailor event to your community's needs
- Provide community specific insights and strategies
- Customizable
Scientists constantly face challenges that test their resilience — tight deadlines, intense coursework, shifting research directions, unexpected experimental setbacks, funding rejections. In this interactive 90-minute workshop, we'll explore mindsets and strategies to help you navigate these obstacles. Through self-reflection and group discussions, you'll learn how to set healthy boundaries and strengthen your communication skills to support wellbeing on your academic journey.
What it Includes:
- 90-minute workshop
- Overview of:
- Discuss and define resilience
- Introduce the circle of concern v. influence
- Restrictive vs. growth mindsets
- Expressing your needs and boundaries
- How to advocate for yourself
- Detailed practices
- Pre and post workshop meetings to:
- Tailor event to your community's needs
- Provide community specific insights and strategies
- Customizable
What People are Saying
“Fantastic talk and discussion, I'm really glad we had it!”
“This was great! I think that talking about this issue frequently helps to remove the stigma against seeking mental health treatment.”
“I really appreciated the opportunity to hear how many faculty members have our backs!”
“I feel better equipped to deal with it and to pay attention to the wellbeing of other people and encourage them to get help if they need it. ”
“I really appreciated the talk and I think it started really good discussion (not just during but after the talk as well).”
“The talk was both moving and very informative.”
“I value an explanation of what’s going on with my mind and my body – it made me feel that I am not alone in what I am going through, and that there are working ways to deal with it.”
“The discussion helped me to appreciate even more that in my division the pandemic precautions are taken seriously.”
“I have always felt like I am the only overachiever in the world, and now I see that there are other people managing to live happy lives despite imposter syndrome.”
“It felt great to share my fears with the peers and see that the most experienced of them have the same imposter issues!”
"I can be sufficient to do my job. Some skills I will get, some I will lose, somewhere I will sink, and somewhere I may be better than others.”
“I had no idea that what I was experiencing was burnout. This presentation really helped me see what was causing it and what I could do about it.”
“With the additional stress from the pandemic, it now feels like we are BBO (Beyond Burn Out). Knowing the evidence of what helps makes me more confident in taking time off so I can come back fresh.”
”What a great resource! I’ll definitely be sharing this information with my colleagues and boss.”
“I appreciate how it was tailored to academia and the presenter was clearly knowledgeable about the nuances of burnout in this field.”
“The discussion after the talk was extremely useful. I will certainly use some of these strategies in my lab group.”
“The most useful thing was hearing an academic tell me I'm not broken and just burnt out. It was more informative than I have imagined and gave me hope.”
“I did not really understand what my international students were going through and that there are so many things that can be done to support them.”
“Informative, engaging, and empowering. It offers very easy steps to take in difficult situations as well as provides resources.”
“Great to learn what is actually already harassment and how some of the things that already seem "normal" are not acceptable.”
“Great insights into good practices and measures that institutes can take to counter harassment - and tips on what junior researchers can do themselves to get help and to break the taboo and talk about mental health, power abuse, and discrimination.”
“We received such an overwhelmingly positive response following the session.”
“Thank you so much for your wonderful presentation on how mentoring can go right or down the hill. I was pleased to attend and willing to spread the culture here.”
“Passion comes across very vividly. And helps engage the audience.”
“The presentation provided a concise overview over neurofunctional aspects as well as typical challenges connected to ND conditions which I'm going to keep using when explaining the topic to others.”
“I liked that you listed strengths and why neurodiverse people are an asset to the group.”
“The workshop was very enlightening. I liked that it provided concrete ideas on what to say.”
“I think these programs should be required for all incoming faculty as a part of mentorship training.”
“Great workshop, really good instructors, please continue like this! I learned to be more confident with my own needs and how to communicate them.”
“It was helpful to see that I am not alone with my issues and that there are techniques to improve communication with my supervisor.”
“It was helpful to better understand communication dynamics & why advisers may be acting in a particular manner. ‘In irritation lies information’ is so helpful as a concept!”
“The workshop helped me develop a better understanding of the position I take when I talk to my supervisors – it gave me tools to analyze difficult encounters with my supervisor.”