What this is built on.
Evidence-informed means something specific
It means the content draws on research with actual empirical support, and that we tell you which. It does not mean every session has been through a randomised trial. Anyone claiming otherwise about a half-day workshop is selling you something.
Where the material comes from
Trauma-Focused CBT
Informs how we teach staff to read behaviour. The core insight — that a dysregulated nervous system produces behaviour that looks like defiance — is what changes how a teacher responds in the moment.
Gottman Method research
Underpins the conflict and repair material. Decades of observational work identified the specific interaction patterns that predict relationship breakdown. Those patterns hold in staffrooms and teams, not just couples.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Shapes the manager conversation training. SFBT is built for short, goal-directed exchanges that don't require diagnosis — which is exactly the shape of a manager checking in on someone who's struggling.
Mental Health First Aid and CSA Z1003
Frame the workplace material and its alignment with Ontario employer obligations.
Where training stops
Ballast delivers education. We teach people to notice, respond, and refer. We do not provide counselling, assessment, diagnosis, or treatment, and no session should be understood as clinical care for any participant.
This matters most in schools. Before we work with students, we agree a written referral protocol with the school: who a student is handed to, what we do and don't document, and what happens if something serious comes up. That is settled before the first session, not during it.
Questions about the evidence base
If you're building an internal case for this spend and need something more specific than a website page, ask. We'd rather send you the reasoning than have you guess at it.