Welcome to the Classroom Café podcast series, where it’s all about brewing the conversation with fellow new educators. These special podcasts are brought to you by the UFT and the union’s Member Assistance Program (MAP). May this podcast series inspire you...nourish you...and motivate you.
The full series of "Classroom Café" podcasts is available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and SoundCloud.
For more information, contact MAP at mapinfo@uft.org or by telephone at 212-701-9620.
Feelings of isolation, stress and anxiety have been heightened during the pandemic, creating the perfect storm for an increase in substance use and other addictive behaviors. In this episode of the Classroom Café podcast, Anthony Rizzuto of the Seafield Treatment Center on Long Island, a master social worker, alcoholism and substance abuse counselor and national speaker, will discuss how these stressors can affect you and your loved ones and how best to cope with them. He'll give you strategies for managing emotions without resorting to unhealthy coping mechanisms and explain how you can support others in these difficult times.
Grieving the loss of a loved one, whether a family member, friend or colleague, can be complicated and difficult. Grieving during a pandemic is more complicated still. Listen in as Alan Fruzzetti, Ph.D., a psychologist from McLean Hospital and cofounder of the Center for Trauma and Stress Education, shares his insights. While there is no “right” way to grieve, in this episode, we will learn strategies for coping with grief and loss so it isn’t overwhelming.
In this special podcast episode for UFT retirees, hear how retired UFT members throughout the country are experiencing life during this pandemic and learn strategies that retirees are using to cope with the new reality. “We want our retired members to know your union is here for you and you’re not alone,” said Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy. “Listen in to our conversation as one way to stay together while remaining socially distant.” The podcast features Murphy; Christopher Chin, the director of Retiree Social Services; and Donesa Jackson and Patti Vitucci of the UFT’s Florida retiree section.
Learn tips and strategies about creating boundaries, setting routines and virtually supporting students in the remote era from Doreen Ng, the director of mental health at the UFT’s United Community Schools program, and Christopher Chin, the director of the union’s Retiree Social Services Department. In this interview with Lindsay Strickler-Levine, a licensed counselor with the union’s Member Assistance Program, Ng and Chin also discuss why finding a “win” every day is an important self-care tool.
Learn more about how the UFT Member Assistance Program is helping union members cope with the COVID-19 pandemic through individual consultations, virtual support groups and online resources at Membership Assistance Program.
UFT Member Assistance Program Director Tina Puccio, LCSW, and licensed counselors Lindsay Levine and Jenice Acosta, who have been facilitating the union’s virtual support groups, discuss that strategies that have helped UFT members deal with the fear and anxiety triggered by the coronavirus crisis.
Learn more about how the individual consultations, virtual support groups and online resources that the UFT Member Assistance Program offers at www.uft.org/map
You're about to become a parent! Congratulations! Especially in this trying time, vital information about paid parental Leave cannot wait for those UFT members who are preparing to welcome a child into their families. And the UFT is here to help. For the duration of the coronavirus crisis, our hugely popular "Pathways to Parenthood" workshop is online. Tanisha & Michele, two of our experts, will take you through the ABCs of your leave options in this special edition of the "Classroom Café” podcast.