Caring Safely®

Caring Safely® was founded by Charlene Richard, a registered social worker in Calgary, Alberta.  Charlene has been teaching compassion fatigue resiliency  to individuals and organizations since 2008. 

In 2015 Charlene created Caring Safely®  to leverage the power of technology to bring this information to individuals and organizations around the world. Since then, over 15,000 people, from around the world, have accessed her online trainings. 

Caring Safely® has expanded to offer additional classes, workshops and programs, including trauma-informed practice and other classes in mental health and wellness. 

Charlene Richard, B.S.W, M.S.W., RSW

Charlene is a registered social worker in Calgary, Alberta who has been working in addictions and mental health since 2005 in various settings, including; crisis shelters, university counselling centres, community health centres, primary care and private practice.

She has been providing training and education for individual and organizations on compassion fatigue resilience and mental health since 2008.  Charlene is the founder of Caring Safely® a certified educational institute in Canada providing online training and educational retreats. She is also a sessional instructor with the University of Calgary, Faculty of Social Work and the author of 20 Quick Strategies to Help Patients and Clients Manage Stress.

Charlene works internationally with organizations to provide custom trainings for individualized needs and availability.  These trainings are provided in various formats, including; face-to-face, live webinars, pre-recorded online training (self-study) or a combination of all three.  She also teaches an annual online training program for individuals around the world who want to learn trauma-informed compassion fatigue resilience through the Caring Safely® Personal Program or the Caring Safely® Professional Program (train-the-trainer).

These trainings are ideal for staff who regularly witness trauma, grief or suffering and want to learn how to manage the impacts while still providing compassionate care.  Participants learn how to protect themselves while helping people who have experienced trauma, how to recover from vicarious trauma and how to assess their need for additional support.

Since 2008, Charlene has provided consultation or training with the Health Canada, The Department of National Defence, The Canadian Association of Social Workers, The Alberta College of Social Workers, Alberta Health Services, Canadian Mental Health Association, Child and Family Services, Hospitals, Universities and Not-For-Profits.

In 2018, Charlene was a finalist in two categories of the Stevie® Awards, Female Entrepreneur of the Year in Canada and Female Solo Entrepreneur for her work with Caring Safely®.  In 2019 she will facilitate the first round of Private Practice Bliss™, an online training program to help people start or grow their private practices.

Please contact [email protected] or call 1-825-994-1542 if you are interested in working with Charlene.