Educator wellbeing
About
The Educator Wellbeing Workshop offers an uplifting and deeply practical exploration of how wellbeing is shaped by the ways we think, feel, and respond in the contexts we work and live.
Grounded in contemporary psychology, philosophy, and the Phoenix Cups® Framework, this workshop supports educators to understand how unhelpful thinking patterns, habits, and internal narratives can influence emotional wellbeing, stress responses and professional relationships. Participants explore how the mind constructs meaning, why we can become stuck in unhelpful stories, and how to build skills that support responding with intention rather than reacting under pressure.
The session also introduces Life Needs Balance, a wellbeing approach that moves beyond the limits of “work–life balance”. Through reflection on personal life needs across both home and work, educators are supported to develop sustainable ways of maintaining fulfilment, resilience, and emotional regulation in fast-paced and demanding environments.
This workshop also takes a whole-company approach, showing how wellbeing is strengthened when teams share a common framework and a consistent way of supporting one another. Educators are supported to clarify their own needs, recognise the needs of colleagues, and understand how different strengths show up at work. The result is more aligned teamwork, healthier communication, and a more connected staff culture.
Delivered in Phoenix Support’s signature edu-tainment style, blending humour, storytelling, interaction and practical tools, this workshop creates space for genuine reflection and connection. Participants leave feeling seen, re-energised and equipped with a clear, shared framework to support personal wellbeing, strengthen relationships and contribute to a healthier, more connected workplace culture.
Download the full workshop brochure
See workshop overviews, learning focus, and delivery options in one clear, printable PDF.
We will
- explore how thinking patterns, habits, and internal narratives shape emotions, behaviour, and workplace experiences, and practise strategies for noticing, challenging, and addressing unhelpful thoughts.
- examine the Phoenix Cups® Framework to understand core human life needs, individual needs profiles, and how the Will to Fill™ and Skill to Fill™ support wellbeing across personal and professional contexts.
- engage in reflective and interactive activities, including scenarios, discussion and storytelling, to deepen insight into how wellbeing influences relationships, stress responses, and resilience.
- apply practical wellbeing tools that build agency, emotional regulation, gratitude, and intentionality across home and work, supporting positive, connected, and sustainable team cultures.
Participant outcomes
By the end of this workshop, participants will have:
- A clear understanding of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviours interact, and how to recognise and address unhelpful thinking styles using practical reframing strategies.
- An ability to interpret their own Phoenix Cups® profile, and recognise how their dominant needs influence their wellbeing, motivation, and workplace interactions.
- Increased confidence in applying the Will to Fill™ and Skill to Fill™ to intentionally meet their needs, and support sustained wellbeing.
- Strategies to foster healthier team relationships through empathy, perspective-taking, and an appreciation of diverse needs profiles within their workplace.
- Practical tools to build resilience, manage stress, and cultivate predictable habits that promote emotional regulation, fulfilment, and job satisfaction.
Theoretical underpinnings
CBT
Explains how thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are interconnected, providing a framework for recognising unhelpful thinking patterns, and developing more helpful, balanced cognitive habits.
Practical Philosophy
This lens teaches that we don’t control every situation, but we can influence how we interpret and how we respond to them. Educators practise noticing our judgements, returning to what’s within control, and acting with intention.
ACT
ACT extends CBT by focusing less on changing thoughts and more on changing our relationship with them. Educators learn to make space for difficult feelings, to build psychological flexibility.
The Phoenix Cups
Sandi Phoenix
The Phoenix Cups Framework supports educator wellbeing by offering a clear, needs-based lens that helps educators understand stress as the result of empty cups and intentionally restore fulfilment through relational, systemic, and reflective practice.
National alignments
QA1: Educational Program and Practice (Elements 1.1.1, 1.2.1): strengthens intentional, reflective practice by enhancing educator wellbeing, cognitive clarity, and emotional regulation.
QA4: Staffing Arrangements (Element 4.2.2): supports respectful, collaborative relationships through improved communication, empathy, and understanding of differing needs.
QA5: Relationships with Children (Elements 5.1.1, 5.2.1): promotes educator wellbeing and self-regulation, which enables warm, attuned, consistent interactions with children.
QA7: Governance and Leadership (Elements 7.1.2, 7.2.3): nurtures a positive workplace culture where wellbeing, professional reflection, and team cohesion are prioritised.
Standard 1.1: Physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of learners: Deepens understanding of how educator wellbeing influences children’s experiences and outcomes.
Standard 4.1: Support student participation: Enhances educators’ capacity for attuned, inclusive, emotionally regulated interactions.
Standard 6.2: Engage in professional learning: Promotes personal growth, reflective practice, and wellbeing awareness as critical professional capabilities.
Standard 7.4: Engage professionally with colleagues: Strengthens team collaboration and constructive communication through shared wellbeing language and concepts.
Principle 1: Child safety and wellbeing embedded in leadership, governance and culture: Promotes a culture where educator wellbeing supports safe, attuned, rights-based practice.
Principle 3: Families and communities are informed and involved: Enhances professional communication and relational capacity.
Principle 5: People working with children are suitable and supported: Strengthens emotional resilience, reflective capacity, and wellbeing of educators.
Principle 10: Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children: Reinforces the importance of staff wellbeing in maintaining consistent, safe interactions.
Social and Emotional Learning
- Strengthens educator understanding of needs-driven behaviour (Will to Fill™).
- Supports co-regulation, emotion coaching, and modelling healthy coping strategies.
- Builds resilience and wellbeing through intentional Cup-filling strategies.
Language and Literacy
- Supports high-quality communication through improved emotional clarity and reflective thinking.
- Encourages modelling of positive self-talk and narrative building.
Wellbeing (Social & Emotional)
- Provides practical tools for emotional regulation, resilience and stress reduction.
- Strengthens educators’ ability to co-regulate and respond to children’s needs with calm, consistency and empathy.
Online course option
Prefer to engage in this training from the comfort of your own home? We get it!
That's why we created the self-paced online course, with video content and downloadable workbooks.
