This R U OK? Day, Fishburners is running a workshop in partnership with one of our member startups Radiant, in order to help you respond well when you find yourself acting as an ‘accidental counselor’ for others who are needing some support.

This short talk will demonstrate a simple three-step ‘active listening’ framework to help develop skills to more confidently engage in these tough but necessary conversations.

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

Learn the difference between active and passive listening and how to apply active listening skills
Know things you can say to someone who is distressed and things that you should avoid saying/doing
How to respond when others present complex situations such as risk of self-harm and anger

About the Speaker

Belinda Taranto delivers professional development programs for RANSW and is a trainer in the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution. She completed a Bachelor of Applied Social Science (Counselling) with Australian College of Applied Psychology, and is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner (FDRP). Belinda has worked on ongoing cases needing longer-term support and case management with the counselling team. She is a Child Inclusive practitioner and actively participates in Child and Family and Domestic Violence interagency groups.

About Fishburners

Fishburners is much more than a coworking space. We are a not for profit, passionate community of 300+ scalable tech startups that only exists thanks to our amazing sponsors - Google for Startups, UTS, Chartered Accountants, and Jobs for NSW. We are dedicated to inspiring and helping startups get started, grow and succeed. Our goal is to make the hardest thing you’ve ever done easier!

We do this through our different memberships which provide the facilities, resources, learning and development, mentoring, and connections that you need for your idea to come to life and flourish. We also open our doors and host some of the largest, regular events in the Australian startup ecosystem, including our bi-weekly lunch & learn workshops, and Shark Tank-style, Friday night pitches. Member or not, you're welcome to attend and/or get involved! Any questions about memberships or events, please feel free to email events@fishburners.org.