Have you ever noticed a friend say something really harsh about their partner, and then wonder what else is happening in that relationship? Have you ever seen a family member mistreat a loved one, and think “this isn’t good… but what can I say?”

It can be really difficult to know what to say and do in situations like this. 

In this workshop, we will learn and practice the skills needed to respond to someone using abusive or unhealthy behaviors in their relationship.

All of us can likely recall situations where we witnessed something that didn't feel right or went against our values but didn't manage to step in and interrupt the behavior. Opportunities to actively interrupt and stop harmful behavior and violence often present themselves, but sometimes it can feel easier said than done.

Join us to develop your skills in being an active bystander so that you can feel confident interrupting harmful behaviour. Join the Pathways Community to attend!

If a friend you knew was feeling stuck in an unhealthy relationship, or experiencing violence at the hands of their partner, would you know what to say or how to help?

We’re not all emergency responders or social workers, and that’s totally okay. We don’t have to be in order to be supportive, safe, and helpful to the people around us. However, we do need to learn (and practice!) some skills. 

Using scenarios, case studies, and other exercises, we will work in small groups to practice these skills — recognize, empathize, ask, and listen — together!

⭐️ How do we navigate triggers that come up for us in gender justice work? How can we stay in a relationship with others, particularly when engaging men and boys, even when we disagree? How do we give and receive feedback with grace?

Join us on Wednesday, March 27th at 1 pm MT for this workshop led by Lana Wells, MSW, Chair of Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, and Jake Stika, Executive Director at Next Gen Men. 

So are you struggling to respond effectively to youth when they say or do potentially harmful things? Interested in bringing transformative conversations into your community or work? Eager to get some practice? Look no further!

Join the Pathways community on Tuesday, 9th April at 10am Pacific Time for this 90 minute session with Jonathon, Director of Programs at NGM.

Why are young men and boys drawn to harmful, anti-feminist online influencers in the first place? How can we, as trusted adults in their lives, intervene to prevent these online characters becoming idols for future generations? How should we talk with youth about these issues in a way that validates their experiences without giving people like Tate further opportunities to capture the minds of youth?

Join us on Zoom, Thursday 1st February at 9am Pacific Time as we are led by Next Gen Men’s Director of Programs, Jonathon Reed. We will learn: 

✅ Why there is a draw to anti-feminist online influencers for young men and boys
✅ How to have transformative conversations with boys and young men about harmful online influencers 

In the first and second Practicing Empathy workshops, we practiced: listening to understand, asking questions, paraphrasing, asking for confirmation, and withholding judgment. 

In this workshop, we will practice bringing all the empathy skills together: listening to understand, paraphrasing, asking for confirmation, withholding judgement, AND identifying and naming emotions in others. 

We will also work through some questions because, like most communication skills, empathy is complex & layered.

Join us on January 16th at 11am MT, and let's practice empathy together one more time!

Join Pathways’ workshop led by Lana Wells, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Social Work, and Brenda Strafford Chair in the Prevention of Domestic Violence at Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence, University of Calgary, and Jake Stika, Executive Director at Next Gen Men. 

Lana and Jake will delve into the learning barriers that get in our way when talking about gender and equity, and why the topic can trigger defensiveness. 

Together we’ll learn…

• How to mitigate resistance by firstly understanding its roots

• How to frame conversations around gender justice in a way that reduces resistance

• How to effectively respond to resistance when it does crop up

Join your fellow Pathways community members on Zoom, Thursday 7th December, 10am Mountain Time to learn more. 

In this two hour workshop, we will practice:

• Identifying our values & boundaries

• Practicing different phrases we can say to communicate our emotions and needs in ways that align with our values and boundaries (and the boundaries of others!)

• Identifying who we can go to in our lives for support (and which kinds of support)

• Exploring & practicing different ways to respond when someone does not react well to us sharing our emotions and needs

In this 90-minute workshop, we will unpack:

• How to understand our emotions using more dimensions (and why this is helpful!)

• What is mindfulness? How can we practice it, and how does it connect to emotional literacy?

• What is the role of relaxation and distraction in order to cope with emotions?

• What is the role of memory in emotional literacy?

Sadly, many of us men are not socialized to name, feel, process, or explain our emotions — despite being such an important part of the human experience.

Luckily, we can learn these skills at any age. It's never too late!

Join us on Saturday April 1st at 11:00am Mountain Time (and no, it's not an April Fool's joke!) as we learn to identify and name our emotions. Don’t worry if you didn’t attend the first workshop in this series. You will be able to understand what’s happening :)

Sadly, many of us men are not socialized to name, feel, process, or explain our emotions — despite being such an important part of the human experience.

Luckily, we can learn these skills at any age. It's never too late!

Joining us to lead this first of many (we hope!) workshops on Emotional Literacy is Emma Ocean, registered psychologist. Join us on February 18th at 11am MT!

More details coming soon!