Training

Retreats

Each of these three day retreats offers participants a deeply nourishing and reflective experience that stimulates their desire to learn more.

STORY AND NARRATIVE:

How it transforms our lives

Part One and Two

These retreats are intended to help us to consciously bring story and narrative more deeply into our lives and work in a transformative way. Through a process of self-exploration and discovery each of us will have a unique opportunity to learn how story deepens our sense of what is possible in ourselves and our communities. It will also invite us to consider how to help one another move beyond those stories in our lives that make us feel stuck.

MAKING SENSE OF DEATH: Contemplating the Meaning of a Conscious Death

This two and a half day retreat offers an intimate, contemplative process for considering what you personally believe about the experience of death and creating an imaginative picture of what you would want to have happen at the end of life and in the three days after death. You are offered a sacred opportunity to consciously explore what kind of experience you would want during your own dying process.

Over the 2 1/2 days, the shared dialogue and individual exercises will help you to bring consciousness to many of the issues that you may have never taken time to consider before. In consciously undertaking this kind of self-exploration well in advance of your own death, you are also more able to assist others in creating a conscious death experience for themselves.

DEEPENING OUR CAPACITiES

This retreat is intended for Independent Facilitators who strive to help the individuals and families they serve to come to a deeper place in terms of understanding one another and growing together. It invites Facilitators to develop their capacity for mindfulness and observation, a key component in successfully carrying out this role. During the retreat, participants will explore and examine themes like fear and power that are part of each and every day-to-day encounter, though rarely made explicit.

Through a process of self-exploration and discovery, Facilitators will build their capacity for listening and drawing out peoples’ voices.

FAMILY RETREAT SERIES

Uniquely aimed at Families who have a loved one who has a disability

“What about me?”

A Retreat designed for Mothers

This retreat gives mothers’ a chance to come together with other mothers to explore themes from their life and what it takes to do what they do day after day. They will explore their own passions and what matters to them. The retreat is aimed at supporting mothers to find, through dialogue, a deeper sense of purpose and direction in their own lives.

Keene, Ontario March 15th-16th, 2013

"What is my Role in all

of this?"

A Retreat designed for Fathers

This retreat gives fathers’ a chance to come together with other fathers to explore their thoughts about the role they have played and are willing to play in supporting their son/daughter to achieve a meaningful life. They will get a chance to share what has been challenging in carving out a role for
themselves and what their involvement has meant to them. There will be an
opportunity for fathers to create a vision for themselves and set personal goals for
their own future.

Testimonial

Getting a group of men to be open about their emotions, fears, aspirations, victories, etc. is very difficult. Thanks for your thoughtful guidance and facilitation of this event. I hope you realize how meaningful events like this are for fathers.

One and Two Day Workshops

CONSCIOUS LISTENING

Our senses are overloaded everyday and yet we are called to find a way to listen to what matters the most to the people we serve and our family members who live with a disability. Conversation has become a dying art. This in-depth two day workshop offers participants an expanded imagination of what it takes to be present in a conversation and truly listen with our entire being.

Huntsville, Ontario, April 29th-30th, 2013

THE ART OF INTERVIEWING

This workshop delves right away into the interview dynamic and the many ways to begin getting the information you need during a hiring interview. The dialogue focuses on what kind of qualities you are looking for in the person and figuring out how best to probe for those qualities. There are lots of tips given and opportunities to practice in this workshop. This has really helped parents who are hiring community support workers to bring some clarity to the interview and to help choose the right person.

Durham, Ontario, May, 2012

EXPLORING THE NATURE

OF SUPPORT CIRCLES

For individuals with disabilities, making the decision to form a support circle can be the most important decision of their life. For families, inviting others to form a support circle around a loved one can be one of the most courageous and remarkable thingS they will ever do. Reaching out in this way makes individuals and their families feel particularly vulnerable and yet it gives them access to multiple perspectives and resources like never before. What is the role of the Facilitator in this process of building circles of support? How can the circle grow and reflect together? How can it make good decisions?

THE NATURE OF FAMILY ADVOCACY

As a parent it is invaluable to take the time to reflect on the role of advocacy in your child's life.

• What have you had to advocate for and what toll

has it taken on you?

• Who else has stepped in to advocate?
• When has advocacy been necessary?
• Who have you been able to engage as an ally?
• How can you evaluate an advocacy strategy to know which direction to take?

These reflective questions will be part of this thought provoking one day workshop.

"What's Next for me?"

A Retreat designed for Siblings

This retreat gives siblings’ a chance to come together with other adult siblings to explore what role they feel they will be expected to play and what role they are willing to play in relation to their brother or sister’s lives. They will get a chance to share what has been challenging in carving out a role for themselves and what their relationship has meant to them. There will be opportunities for siblings to begin to create a vision for themselves and set personal goals for their own future.

HELPING PEOPLE TO GET A LIFE

What does it take to support people to go after their dreams, to really do what they have always imagined doing? How can people with disabilities be supported to get on with creating a passionate life for themselves? This energizing workshop begins with personal introspection around the ways each of us create a life for ourselves.

The unique exercises and dialogue lead to a fuller appreciation of leisure and how it can create aliveness and balance in our lives. The workshop expands on the insights and concepts in the book "Developing Leisure Identities: A Pilot Project."