Frema Engel
Workplace: Conflict, Bullying/Psychological Harassment, Building Respectful, Collaborative Workplaces; Leadership Development

Working at McGill University as an Industrial Social Work Consultant in the early 1980’s, Frema helped nurses, orderlies and doctors at Montreal ’s Royal Victoria Hospital deal with patient violence. Together with nurse-colleague Shirley Marsh, she helped create a shift in how health care institutions looked at patient violence through their pioneering article “Helping the Employee Victim of Violence in Hospitals,” published in the Journal of Hospital and Community Psychiatry in 1988.

During this time Frema also co-developed services at the Bank of Montreal to help employees deal with the aftermath of holdups and hostage-taking incidents. Her work on treating hold-up victims generated media interest (as far away as Dunedin , New Zealand ) and she was repeatedly interviewed on national and international radio and television, and by the print media. In 1999, she was honored by the Montreal Council of Women for her pioneering work in victim advocacy and trauma response.

In 1986 Frema began a 10 year personal research into how different industries and governments had been dealing with workplace violence. Her book, Taming the Beast:  Getting Violence out of the Workplace, was one of a handful of books published on this subject at the time. In 2004, she published a revised and updated 2^nd edition that provides a blueprint on how to build better work environments.

Frema has been a lecturer at McGill University and University of Montreal on workplace issues. Besides Taming the Beast, she has authored and co-authored articles, booklets and books. Her ideas on how to build harmony at work continues to spark media interest. Recent citations include: Canadian HR Reporter, Your Workplace, Globe and Mail, Canadian Living and CTV, which in 2005 featured her in a documentary about workplace bullying.

Frema has addressed or consulted to most industries. Her client list includes government, business, legal, corporations, unions, schools and universities, hospitals, social services, professional associations, and not-for-profit organizations.  

Frema’s focus on prevention happened after years of helping just about every type of business deal with the aftermath of shooting rampages, sexual harassment and bullying. She realized that many tragedies were preventable by building greater harmony at work. She now advises business leaders how to resolve conflicts, deal with bullying and harassment, and heal fractured or underperforming departments. Her new program focuses on helping create engaged and respectful organizations.

While her subject matter is serious, Frema has an ability to quickly grab people’s attention, deliver her messages with humor, and amaze her audiences with her skillful demonstrations of dealing with the most difficult foe. Her clients appreciate her analytical thinking, vision, leadership and common sense.

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