The Santa Barbara Wellness Project
"An initiative bringing empowerment to the community because
a little impact goes a long way."
ABOUT SBWP
Who We Are
The Santa Barbara Wellness Project was initially a response to the crisis of the suicides of Latino teens in the County in 2009. Since then, we have trained hundreds of community members and mental health professionals in general wellness skills. Over the past several years, the project has evolved into a more general wellness training program that provides skills to manage stress and problems effectively. We have expanded into virtual presentations and to locations outside of California.
What We Do
The SBWP Mission: “to contribute to the wellbeing of children, adults, and families in the county of Santa Barbara. SBWP does this by bringing the community together to celebrate and build upon life strengths and successes to overcome adversity. The goal is for all community members to live better and support and share lifestyles of wellness.”
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The project is based on a Train-the-Trainer model and sustained by volunteer work from community members
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The psychological model that drives this empowerment-based wellness project is designed to work with participants to:
• Identify and/or define existing challenges and concerns that impact wellness
• Explore alternative ways (e.g., relaxation exercises/mindfulness) to more effectively regulate emotional and physical responses (e.g., stress) to existing challenges
• Expand the participant’s ability to identify and select the most acceptable solutions to the challenges they are facing
• Identify and/or develop the skills needed to take desired actions.
While program developers used pre-existing wellness-focused curricula, every effort is made to adapt such programs to address the prevailing needs of the targeted participants. Inherent throughout the implementation of the model is the belief that knowledge is power and collaboration makes us all stronger.
How We Do It
In each SBWP training, basic psycho-education skills are emphasized: self-management of existing emotional and physical responses to life’s challenges (i.e., relaxation training), problem-solving, decision-making, and communication - all with attention to how our beliefs about ourselves and our heritage/ethnic identities can be a source of strength.
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If you or your organization are interested in a wellness training or in becoming a trainer, please contact us. We would love to work with you to meet your/your group's needs!
